"*QHHHHBH 



B V 

4<?oo 
Ms 



Dn 



< i 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

%p ©ojnjrig^ 1* 

Shelf _u£L:____ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




BeT^erBroaEinsiedelii.NewYoTk.CiiicirmatL & S. Lotus. 

Of such is the kingdom of God- 

(S t LukeXVHl,l6.) 



m jJttgsI fttrr* 



IN HEAVEN. 



With Letters of Condolence and of Consolation 

BY 

Mft: JWxanzin ire ^alrs 

AND OTHERS. 



^ranslaitfr from tfjc JFrmri) 
By M. A. M. 



/2Jf*$J 

New York, Cincinnati, and St. Louis, 

Printers to the Holy Apostolic See. 

1885. 







gmyxxmninx, 



John, Cardinal McCloskey, 

Archbishop of New York. 




Copyright, 1885, By BENZIGER BROTHERS. 



PREFACE. 

Heaven seems to have blessed this little 
book, begun, at first, as an expression of con- 
solation and of love. Since, thought we, the 
happy child who suggested it can no longer 
take an active part in the Society of the Holy 
Childhood, let his memory be a link in the 
chain of good works which his parents have 
begun in his name. 

To console some grief-stricken mother, to 
lead some little one to heaven — such is the two- 
fold mission of this book, and if . this be at- 
tained, the short sojourn on earth of our little 
angel will not have been fruitless. He will 
have scattered good on his pathway, and of 
him may be said, in the words of the Wise 
Man : " Being made perfect in a short space, 
he fulfilled a long time."* 

* Wisdom iv. 13. 



4 Preface. 

Sad as is the loss of a beloved child, it is 
not the only trial of this life, which, as Job 
tells us, is full of misery. Here, then, we 
offer the outpouring of a father's heart, deeply 
afflicted, but resigned and greatly consoled by 
faith and Christian hope. Alas ! One Angel 
More in Heaven is no longer an appropriate 
title, for since this book first appeared that 
heart has received other wounds, for other 
dearly loved children have gone to join the 
angel band. Francis, Clara, Margaret, invit- 
ed by your elder brother to the delights of 
heaven, you have gone to share his happiness, 
the reward of his innocence ! Your parents 
mourn you, but are resigned. We have 
again heard the heavenly voice which answers 1 

the cries of earth, and looking up with the! 

i 
eyes of faith and hope, we see four angels 

more in heaven destined to praise and bless 

and glorify God for all eternity. 

Blessed be the Divine Consoler who, if He 



Preface. 5 

has not given to us as He did to Job " twice 
as much as before,"* has at least left us some 
of our loved ones. If, perchance, some poor 
mother, rinding a little consolation in these 
pages, casts a thought of gratitude on the au- 
thor, he would beg her prayers for the two 
clear children spared to be the consolation and 
the joy of their parents. May she ask Hea- 
ven to preserve them, but, above all, may she 
beg for them the grace to keep the precious 
innocence of their baptism, that priceless 
flower, so tender and so easily contaminated 
by the breath of the world. 

* Job xlii. 10. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Preface to the French Edition — , 3 

One Angel more in Heaven 9 

To my friend the Abb6 Julien La B*** 12 

Cries of Earth— Voices of Heaven. 25 

The Voice of Jesus Speaking to the Heart of an Afflict- 
ed Father 27 

The same subject continued 39 

The same subject concluded 53 

The Voice of the Guardian Angel to the Heart of an 

Afflicted Father 58 

The Voice of the Saviour Jesus to the Heart of a 

Bereaved Mother 63 

The Voice of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God and 

our Mother 75 

A Mother and the Guardian Angel of her Son 83 

A Father Communing with the Angel of his dead 

Child 90 

A Mother Communing with her Son 98 

Letters of Condolence and Consolation : 

From Monsieur de M*** to his Friend 107 

From the Abbe **** to Madam **** 110 

From M*** Canon at V*** to the same 112 

From the Rev'd Father Louis Sellier, S. J., to Mad- 
am Amelie **** 114 

Letters of St. Francis de Sales : 

To a Mother .... 117 



8 Contents. 



PAGE. 

To a Father 117 

To a Friend who had lost his Brother 119 

To a Lady who feared Death 119 

To a Sick Person, on Peace of Mind in Affliction . . 120 

Letters from Fenelon : 

To a Lady in Affliction 123 

To a Father on the Death of his Son 124 

To a Friend 126 

Extracts from some of Fenelon's Letters : 

On the Necessity of Trusting in God 127 

On Entire Abandonment to God in Suffering 129 

Letter from Father de Ravignan 133 

Letters from Lacordaire: 

To a Father on the Death of his Son 135 

To a Mother on the Death of a Christian Young 

Man., 136 

Consoling Fragments: 

Harmony of Nature 139 

Let us Think on Heaven 140 

We Meet again in Heaven. 146 

Follow the Paths of Pure Love with Joy, Grati- 
tude and Wonder. 149 

Blessed are they that Mourn 152 

A Prayer to Unite our Sufferings to those of Jesus 

Christ 154 

Lines on the Death of a Little Girl 156 

\ 



ONE ANGEL MORE IN HEAVEN. 

If not the only trial in the path of life, surely 
one of the bitterest is that dispensation which 
seems to reverse the law of nature by tearing 
from the parent arms a beloved child whose 
birth has been a transport of joy. If, per- 
chance, that little one has been long expected, 
is the first-born, is endowed with all the beauty 
and promise which could satisfy the most ex- 
acting desires of the tenderest love — if such a 
one, the centre of a happy family gathering, be 
taken — then indeed the blow seems cruel, bit- 
ter beyond the expression of words. It is a 
sword driven to the inmost core and leaving a 
wound impossible for the hand of friendship 
to cure. 

One alone, like unto the good Samaritan, 
can pour oil on the gaping sore — that One is 
the Saviour Jesus, the Redeemer of men, the 
Friend of the sorrowful. You who have 
known, or are destined to know such a grief, 



io One Angel ?nore in Heaven, 

turn your eyes towards the new habitation of 
the one whom you mourn, and fix your atten- 
tion on the God who died on a cross for you 
and him. 

Lend an ear to the voices which seek a 
hearing in your heart. The voice of heaven 
speaks a sublime language to you. The voice 
of Mary the Mother of Jesus whispers gently 
to you. The angel guardian, the blessed 
spirit you mourn, speak to you ! 

Oh ! if you listen to these voices, your soul, 
prostrated by the weight of its woe, will rise 
up calm and resigned to bravely continue the 
path of exile to the end. 

The author of this little book is an unfor- 
tunate father who saw himself bereaved of an 
only son under all the circumstances before 
mentioned, at a moment when he began to 
guide the tottering steps and listen with rap- 
ture to the baby lisp. 

In the excess of his sorrow he clung the 
more closely to that tree of life which ever 
spreads its shade over the wounded and the 
weeping. There his parched soul found re- 
freshment and strength from the renewal of 
hope in the divine goodness. 



One Angel more in Heaven. 1 1 

He meditated on the happiness of heaven, 
the misery of life ; on the beauty of innocence 
and the merit of patiently borne trials, and he 
learned that to heart-rending sufferings God 
granted heart-filling consolations. 

In this humble work, compiled first for 
the comfort of the bereaved mother, he tries 
to recall the consolations of divine grace. May 
they, like a celestial dew, fall upon her throb- 
bing heart. May they also prove a comfort to 
other mothers similarly tried, and may they 
arrest some murmur springing to lips deprived 
of filial caresses ! 



To My Friend the Abbe Julien La B. 



You question me, my friend, as to my 
thoughts, my studies, my projects. What 
can they be on my return from that fatal jour- 
ney when I lost my son ? Weeping, sighing, 
praying, dreaming, weeping anew, speaking 
of him my son, my first-born, my only one, 
my hope and joy, my pride — this is my occu- 
pation ! . . . . 

Each hour brings back the remembranco of 
him ; he is ever present to my eyes with his 
fair hair and sunny smile, his bright eye and 
childlike grace. Suddenly the illusion passes 
and I am alone in utter desolation. My heart 
is crushed with the fatal sentence ringing in my 
ear, ' ' thou hast no son, " and the iron enters my 
soul. 

Yet, my friend, at times a thought, like a 
gentle breeze pervades my bosom and cools 
my wound ; it is that which your tender sym- 



To my friend the Abbe Julien La B. 13 

pathy suggested and surely springs from the 
blessed land of my lost one. 

u Dost thou not know," it says, " that the 
kingdom of God is ever open to little children, 
and that the Saviour's merits have obtained 
for them the immediate rewards of the blessed?" 

I listen to that sweet voice, and penetrating 
in spirit the gates of paradise, I seek my first- 
born, so lately snatched from me. I fancy that 
I see him beaming with happiness, smiling on 
me, and promising to aid me. Yes, the 
thought of heaven strengthens my weakness. 
Heaven ! Grandeur unspeakable ! glory in- 
effable ! O blessed mansion of the celestial 
city ! O bright day of eternity that knows no 
night, that is forever enlightened by the Sov- 
ereign Truth ! O day unchangeable in its peace 
and joy, sheltered forever from storms and 
vicissitudes ! 

Oh that this day would shine upon us and all 
these temporal things would come to an end ! 

It bursts upon the vision of the saints in all 
the resplendence of everlasting beauty, but to 
us, earth's pilgrims, it is visible only afar off and 
through a mist ! (1) 

(1) Imit. III. xlviii. 



14 To my friend the Abbe Julien La B. 

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
hath it entered into the heart of man what 
things God hath prepared for them that love 
Him."(l) Even our material sense can under- 
stand this joy to a certain extent — freedom from 
the solicitudes, the miseries and the struggles 
of life — -to enjoy to the fullest extent of our de- 
sires the sense of being, of knowing, and of 
loving — to see with a clear vision the beauty of 
God — to be satisfied with the purest delights — 
to be happy in the happiness of God, and all 
this for eternity, in the company of Mary and 
the saints and angels. Oh ! my friend, what a 
future ! what a goal ! 

How can our hearts, so avaricious, so grasp- 
ing, be blind to such happiness ? Why do we 
not sigh for an existence where being, 
knowing and loving, these three forces of 
our nature are fully developed and fully satis- 
fied by the Deity itself ? " I shall be satisfied 
when Thy glory shall appear. 1 ' (2) 

In prosperity, when everything moves 
smoothly, man is prone to forget his eternal 
destiny and to revel in his exile ; but the wind 

(1) Paul, I. Corinthians, 2. (2) Ps. xvi. 15. 



To my friend the Abbe Julien La B. 15 

of adversity levels him to the earth, and at the 
foot of the cross alone he learns that true hap- 
piness is not to be found here below. 

Beneath blue skies and bright stars the 
sailor sings and laughs and sleeps, forgetting 
his native land and the destination of his ship ; 
but let the winds arise and the waves wash 
high — he ceases his song and casts a longing 
look towards home. In like manner do I, my 
friend, in the midst of my sorrow raisemy tear- 
dimmed eyes to heaven, our common country, 
where all that is good and true and noble awaits 
us. 

If ever I prized the privilege of belonging to 
our holy religion, it is in these days when all 
worldly comfort seems so intrusive and cold 
and my soul needs a divine helper. Faith is 
the beacon which, shining brilliantly in the 
darkest hours of life, guides the pilgrim here 
below. It is the staff of the traveller which, 
becoming stronger as his steps totter, supports 
his weakness and carries him over the craggy 
steeps. Happy is he who has never thrown this 
staff from him ! 

I look towards heaven, and there I rind my son 
united to the choirs of saints and angels. No ! 



1 6 To my friend the Abbe Julien La B. 

it is not a delusion, he is there in the bosom 
of Him who is the source of all paternity. 
He is changed, but the eye of faith sees him 
through the veil which conceals him from mortal 
sight. 

Our relations towards each other are changed. 
I call on that little creature so lately weak and 
powerless, to help me in the power which 
Providence has bestowed upon him. This 
spiritual relation is filled with a rare charm for 
my paternal heart, filling it with peace and 
sweetness, and I see my child encircled with 
the halo of the saints .... Oh ! beloved child, re- 
joice in this blessedness for which thou wert 
created, and for which we must labor in the 
sweat of our brow, surrounded by care and 
sorrow. For thee the combat was not fought, 
but a magnanimous God, nevertheless, decked 
thy young brow with the conqueror's crown : 
he rewarded thine innocence by throwing open 
the gates of heaven to thee ! Thanks be to Thee, 
my God ! my race shall bless Thee forever and 
ever ! Sin never sullied that young soul con- 
fided to my care : pure and innocent, it mount- 
ed to Thee without fear or regret. Of this life 
he only knew the delights — the mother's kiss — 



To my friend the Abbe Julien La B . 17 

the friend's smile — of the other he enjoys an 
eternity of joy. . . .once more, thanks to my 
God ! . . . . 



Human feelings, my broken heart, and grace 
contend for the mastery. Some years ago, 
while travelling in Italy, I entered a Franciscan 
church built on one of the hills which overlook 
Genoa, and there noticed several children's 
tombs; one struck me as being particularly 
appropriate, with its bunch of lilies. I copied 
its inscription, which ran as follows : ' ' Afflict- 
ed at losing an innocent child on earth, joy- 
ous at giving a spirit to heaven." (1) 

Our little Emmanuel was then unborn, but 
now I can understand the conflicting feelings 
in the heart. 

The remembrance of the number of children's 
graves, my friend, in that Genoese cemetery, 
often makes me meditate on the sad law of 
poor humanity which daily snatches from the 
mother's embrace the fruit of her womb, ren- 
dering her unhappy wh'o had been so lately 
considered blessed. 

(1) Mesti d'avere uti innoeente fancuillo perduto, ex 
terra, lieti d'avere dati im angelo al cielo." 



1 8 To my f?'iend the Abbe Julien La B. 

I often find myself, while dwelling on these 
sorrows, trying to see that mercy which is so 
apparent in all the works of creation. When 
statistics prove that nearly half of those little 
ones wno come into life are doomed to immedi- 
ate death, there are many, I fear, tempted with 
me to say, l ' Oh, where is the God who wishes 
to be called ' Our Father ' while he seems to 
mock at the heart-rending cries of father and 
mother ? " 

But this is blasphemy, this is the scandal 
of the weak Christian. On the contrary, 
ought we not, having given the tearful 
tribute which nature demands," to bless the 
inscrutable ways of God ? Are not his chas- 
tisements ever tempered by love and wisdom? 
And what right have we to complain of the 
Creator of the universe when He spares a portion 
of His creation the rude apprenticeship of 
life, and the thorns with which it is strewn, by 
taking them in their innocence to Himself ? 

I picture to myself a powerful, generous, 
and magnanimous sovereign, proclaiming a 
tournament of athletic sports to his subjects, 
and offering brilliant rewards to the fortunate 
winners. The contestants, decked with flowers, 



To my friend the Abbe yulien La B. 19 

are introduced, but the struggle is hard and 
the prize difficult to gain, while failure is con- 
demned to slavery and disgrace. 

The sovereign from his high throne views 
the eager multitude and by word and gesture 
encourages them to the trial. He sees in the 
crowd fair children also entering the lists and 
appearing within the arena. Their youth and 
beauty charm his eye and move his paternal 
heart. His gentle mother, seated beside him r 
smiles upon them and pleads their cause. 
" Come," says the king to the fairest of the lit- 
tle ones ; " I will spare you the fatigue of battle ; 
your young brows shall not be soiled by the 
dust of the arena. Without the struggle I 
deign to crown you victors; come, beloved, 
partake of the glory, and the treasures and the 
delights of my kingdom." 

Is not this king, dear friend, a type of our 
God, calling the little ones to enter into eternal 
happiness ? His will is ever directed by His 
love. 

We must not ask God to render an account of 
His decrees. He is the giver of all things, and 
when He recalls His gifts, it is because He sees 
that they are safer in His keeping than in ours. 



2C To my friend the Abbe Jidien La B. 

That infant at the breast which is taken has 
completed his allotted time; he has accom- 
plished his destiny. Mary, perhaps, has prayed 
for him and obtained for him the immediate 
view of God, and thus heaven is peopled with 
the purest souls. 

An army of those little ones surround the 
Lamb and fill the places forfeited by the 
malice of men, singing the j)raises of the 
Saviour. 

Divine Goodness ! this is Thy work ; but we, 
poor mortals, borne down by the senses, can- 
not comprehend it. The cry of nature deaf ens 
us to the voice of heaven; and our eyes, 
dimmed by the tears of earth's affection, are 
blind to 'see Thy love and tenderness. 



Holy Church, the Spouse of Jesus Christ, 
views His designs otherwise than we do, and 
for this reason she entones hymns of triumph 
when one of her new-born children, with brow 
still wet with the waters of regeneration, takes 
flight to the bosom of its heavenly Father. 

The joyous Laudate pneri Domi?ium—th.e 
grateful Te Deum, take the place of mournful 



To my friend the Abbe Julien La B. 21 

psalms. Crowns and white flowers are strewn 
on the grave of the newly elected. 

As the funeral cortege passes, some tender 
mother sheds a tear, but if the newly released 
soul could speak it would address her in the 
words of Jesus : * ' Weep not for me, but for 
yourselves and for your children." 

That same dear Church, ever rich in her lit- 
urgy, has words of sweet meaning on the day 
that heaven is opened to receive a little child 
resplendent in its innocence. This true mother 
feels for the earthly parent, and applies a heal- 
ing balsam to the wounded heart. Listen to the 
language of the priest while he offers the au- 
gust sacrifice. 

At the Introit we hear the Son of man, the 
sovereign Judge, summoning the elect to His 
right hand : ' ' Come, ye blessed of My Father, 
possess the kingdom which was prepared for 
you since the beginning of the world." A 
song of joy and gratitude follows those words, 
Alleluia, Alleluia. 

The Gloria in Excelsis, which is omitted in 
ordinary Masses for the dead, is sung, and the 
priest says the beautiful Collect, "Almighty 
and most merciful God, who to all little chil- 



22 To my friend the Abbe jfulien La B. 

dren regenerated by the waters of baptism, 
dost immediately, without any merit of theirs, 
give eternal life when they depart out of this 
world, even as we believe Thou hast done to 
the soul of this little child this day, grant 
unto us, we beseech Thee, O Lord ! through 
the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and all 
Thy saints, that we may serve Thee here with 
pure minds, and be companions of the blessed 
little ones in Paradise forever, through Christ 
our Lord. Amen.". . . 

At the Epistle it is the great St. Paul, full of 
admiration for the Divine goodness, who 
speaks: "O! the depth of the riches, of the 
wisdom and of the knowledge of God ! How 
incomprehensible are His judgments and how 
unsearchable His ways ! For who hath known 
the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His 
counsellor? or who hath first given unto Him 
and recompense shall be made him? For of 
Him and by Him, and in Him are all things : 
To Him be glory for ever. Amen, (1) 

Graceful and typical are the figures which 
follow the grave words of the great Apostle. 

(1) Rom. xi. 



To my friend the Abbe Julien La B. 23 

It is the voice of the children themselves prais- 
ing God for their deliverance : "Not by the 
words of justice which we have done, but ac- 
cording to His mercy, He saved us by the 
laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy 
Ghost." — Mass at the burial of children. 



Having listened to such beautiful and con- 
soling words, can we not rejoice ? Raise your 
eyes from the earth and fix them on Heaven. 
Can we envy our children's happiness in 
heaven ? They share the reward of those 
who have long fought the good fight, and sit 
in the New Jerusalem, where "God shall wipe 
away all tears from their eyes and death shall 
be no more. Nor mourning, nor crying, nor 
sorrow shall be any more, for the former 
things are passed away."(i) 

Would you recall them to this valley of 
tears ? Oh, no, certainly not ! on the contrary, 
try to gain the land possessed by them — the 
surest road to it is the path of perfection, and 
this God has opened to you. "Where your 

(1) Apoc xxi. 



24 To my friend the Abbe Julien La B. 

treasure is," says the Saviour, "there is your 
heart also." (1) A treasure was given to you 
on earth which the Lord has taken into His 
own keeping in heaven. To heaven, then, 
direct all your thoughts, affections and 
desires. 

I hear you, my friend, addressing to me 
such sentiments as the above, and you do me 
good. 

Blessed be the divine will ! Adoring the 
hand that smites me, I bow my forehead to 
His decrees — and yet I weep. Oh ! I weep ! Oh, 
forbid me not ! ' i Blessed are they that mourn, 
for they shall be comforted." (2) 

(1) Matthew vi. 21. (2) Matthew v- 5. 



Cries of Earth — Voices of 
Heaven. 

When those dear ones who formed our other 
selves are torn from us, we love to follow them 
in spirit beyond the grave : and if we can 
with any degree of certainty place them 
amongst the blessed, oh, then indeed it is 
joy to transport ourselves in spirit to their 
heavenly home. Then our soul communes 
with theirs, and hears, as it were, the 
Divine and celestial voices ; and weak nature 
borrows strength from a new existence. 

The language of heaven is not so incompre- 
hensible to earth as is supposed. The distance 
between the two spheres is spanned by a 
mysterious power and a subtle influence. 

Ask the saints if in the moments of ecstasy 
they did not hear heavenly voices speak with 
the endearing accent of friend to friend. 
Even to the ordinary Christian, who is still 
weighed down by the burden of many cares, 



26 Cries of Earth — Voices of Heaven. 

and deafened by the roar of the world, these 
sweet voices sometimes make themselves 
heard: A kind providence sends ways and 
occasions when they penetrate all distractions 
and make themselves audible and intelligent. 

In a soul which has been purified by afflic- 
tion, strengthened by faith, and animated by 
hope, these voices are distinctly recognized; 
they speak when the Lord in the Holy Sacra- 
ment descends into that soul ; they come with 
the swell of the church crgan; they sob at 
the foot of the altar. 

In the calm of the hour of prayer, in the 
solitude of some shrine of Mary or patron 
saint, the Christian soul seems to hear the 
voice of heaven, and to bask in the sight 
of the angels. The noise of earth seems hushed 
and the eternal home of those gone before 
seems opened. 

Oh, you who mourn the loss of a dear child, 
come and let us listen together in silence and 
solitude to those consoling voices. Heaven, 
which has thrown open its portals for anew 
inhabitant, is not closed to us, and sends us 
words of strength and healing. 



The Voice of Jesus Speaking to the Heart 
of an Afflicted Father. 



Yenitead meomnes qui Idboratts et onerati estis- 

(Matthew xi.) 

JE S U S . 

1 i Come to me all you that labor and are 
burdened, and I will refresh you." (1) My son, 
these are the words of eternal truth. I am 
He who strengthens and consoles. Come to Me, 
then ; why do you hesitate to throw yourself 
into My paternal arms ? 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

I come, my God, my Father, I come to Thee, 
distracted and trembling. My heart is broken. 
Oh, if this chalice could have passed by ! ... My 
cry was vain, my prayer did not reach Thee. 

(1) Matth. xi. 28. 



28 Voice of Jesus Speaking to the 

JESUS. 

' ' Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, 
and not one of them shall fall on the ground 
without your Father. But the very hairs of 
your head are all numbered. " (1) My son, do 
you think that your child has departed out of 
this life without the express will of the tender 
Father who gave him to you ? And if He took 
him back so soon, do you not believe that that 
will, ever wise and adorable, was not directed 
by love and wisdom ? 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

Yes, I believe : Thou art infinitely wise, in- 
finitely good ; nothing happens without Thy 
knowledge, but increase my faith lest I waver. 
Thou hast said: "Amen, amen, I say to 
you : if you ask the Father anything in My 
name, He will give it to you. Ask and you 
shall receive, that your joy may be full." (2) 
When I besought Thee in tears to spare my 
first-born, I beheld Thee reject my prayer and 
hasten the hour of his departure ! 



(I) Matt. x. 29, 30. (2) John xvi. 23, 24. 



Heart of an Afflicted Father. 29 

JESUS. 

Your grief bewilders you, my son ; I heard 
your cry, I granted your greatest desire. 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

What, Lord ! did I pray Thee to take my 
child ?. . . . 

JESUS. 

No ; but at the birth of that long-looked-f or 
child, what was the principal source of your 
joy ? What were the vows made in the trans- 
ports of your happiness ? 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

I blessed Thee, then, oh, Lord ! Thou know- 
est. I raised my eyes to Thee and offered can- 
ticles of thanks and begged for that little 
being Thy protection and love. 

JESUS. 

You must acknowledge I heard your vows. 
I gave you a son, and you consecrated this 
beloved son to Me, that he might be ever Mine 
and live to My honor and glory and find in Me 
his joy and rewards. 



30 Voice of Jtsus Speaking io the 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

Yes, Lord, to know, love, and serve Thee, 
and to be one day united to Thee ; such was 
the desire I formed for my new-born, and 
registered, as the water of baptism flowed on 
his brow, and renewed each day of his short life. 

JESUS. 

You rendered Me full homage for the gift I 
confided to you. Like a good gardener, you 
proposed to cultivate that tender flower to My 
profit until it should be fitted to be taken from 
earth and transplanted to paradise. 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

It is true, Lord ! each day I asked for him 
the crown of the saints. Thou didst hear my 
prayer, but, oh, he was my first-born, my only 
son ! 

J E S U S. 

I received him into the habitation of the 
angels, the first created creatures, admitted 
him amongst the virgins who follow the Lamb, 
whithersoever he goeth. The blood of the 
only Son of the Most High, of the Lamb 



Heart of an Afflicttd Father. 3 1 

without spot immolated for the salvation 
of the world, was shed for him, clothed him 
with the garb of innocence and placed him 
among the celestial choirs. 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

I had dreamed of so bright a career for 
him — to live here below for Thy glory, to 
conquer souls for Thy service, and then to re- 
pose on Thy breast. 

JESUS. 

My son, ' ' Every desire is not from the Holy 
Ghost, though it seems to a man right and 
good. Whatsoever, therefore, presents itself 
to thy mind as worthy to be desired, see that 
it is always with the fear of God that thou 
ask it and say, O Lord, Thou knowest what is 
best. I am in Thy hand, turn me round 
which way Thou wilt. " (1) 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

My God! behold Thy servant, ready to 
obey Thee in all things ; for I do not desire to 

(1) Imit III. xv. 



3 2 Voice of Jesus Speaking to the 

live for myself, but for Thee : I desire to con- 
form my will perfectly and in all things to 
Thine. (1) Lord ! permit that my heavy heart 
be open to Thine ; that it may find in Thee 
its only peace and repose. 

JESUS. 

Speak without fear, My son; I love that 
filial confidence which speaks to God ' ' as the 
beloved is wont to speak to his beloved, and as 
a friend to banquet with a friend. " (2) 

TH E CHRISTIAN. 

Lord ! I weep for my son because scarce had 
he entered upon the race before he rested on 
the path of life. Walking one day outside 
the walls of Rome I read the following inscrip- 
tion at the gate of the cemetery of St. Lorenzo : 
' k Weep for the dead because they have rest- 
ed." Yes, because they have rested from well- 
doing, from working for the Master, from run- 
ning in the lists ; because they can add no more 
to their crown. This is why I mourn for my 
son ! 

(1) Imit. III. xv. (2) n>id. IV. xiii. 



Heart of an Afflicted Father, 33 

JESUS. 

Be consoled, generous father and listen. 
That beloved child who may not live to glory 
on earth, glorifies Me in heaven ; his innocence 
offers an acceptable praise. Do you not know 
that it is written, "out of the mouths of infants 
and of sucklings Thou hast perfected praise, 
because of Thy enemies that Thou mayest de- 
stroy the enemy and the avenger." (1) 

I understand, My child, that your paternal 
ambition is not satisfied. You yearned to 
witness the growing talents and virtues of 
your child, you desired for him the high places 
of heaven ; but these desires come from nature 
rather than from the Holy Spirit. Is it not My 
privilege to recorr^ense the innocence of 
My creatures as I please ? 

My son, I created millions of angels to bless 
and glorify Me throughout all ages, and be- 
stowed upon them infinite happiness. Why 
should it astonish you, if continuing the work 
of mercy, I bestow all happiness on these little 
innocents whom I call from the cradle to My 

(1) Ps. viii. 



34 Voice of Jesus Speaking to the 

throne, and for whom I willingly shed My 
blood ? 

It is I who create the blessed, give them 
all grace and establish them in glory. I know 
the greatest and the least and I embrace each 
one in the immensity of My love. . . . Those 
who despise the least of My creatures, honor 
not the greatest, because I created the great 
and the small. . . . The saints take no glory 
to themselves but render all tribute to Me as 
the donor of all good gifts. . . . They are so 
filled with love for My divinity that, as nothing 
is wanting to its glory, nothing is wanting to 
their happiness. 

It is much to be least in heaven where all 
are great, because all are the children of God. 
My disciples once asked Me which would be 
the greatest in the kingdom. My answer was : 
1 ' Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, 
and become as little children, you shall not 
enter into the kingdom of heaven." (1) Let 
not carnal and covetous men meddle with the 
condition of the saints. As for you, my son, 
beware of seeking to unravel things beyond 

(1). Matt, xviii. 3: 



Heart of an Afflicted Father. 3 5 

your comprehension. Try rather to gain a 
place, even though it be the least, in the king- 
dom of God. 

In My kingdom will be found saints of every 
age, condition and country. I am honored by 
and in each of them. i ' God is admirable in his 
saints. " Is he less admirable in those whose 
innocence he crowns than in others whose long 
labor He rewards ? 

Had I granted you a vision of your son bear- 
ing long trials, fighting severe battles, and re- 
warded with victory in the end, would you not 
have blessed My name ? Will you do less now 
that I have spared him the trials and granted 
him the crown ? 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

Lord 1 Blessed is the man whom Thou in- 
structest, and for whom Thou dost lighten the 
burden of his days. Thy words are as a heal- 
ing balsam to my wounds. Yes, I admire Thy 
mercy. If, however, Thou hadst left me this 
my first-born, what a happiness it would have 
been to teach him Thy laws, to have opened 
his young heart to the immensity of Thy 
charity ! 



36 Voice of Jtsus Speaking io the 

How sweet it would have been to have seen 
him at the banquet of Thy love. Later we 
would have done Thy work together and his 
youth would have revived my forces. Heir 
to my thoughts and aspirations, he would have 
taken up the hymn of praise which my feeble 
voice essayed to sing in Thine honor. 

JESUS. 

Pious desires of a Christian father! you will 
not go without recompense. I saw in the 
future the paternal duties which you would 
have faithfully fulfilled. Do not fear that 
they will not be rewarded, because time was 
not given for their performance ; they have 
still their value. Do you not think that I will 
reward the child for the good which My knowl- 
edge of the future saw he would perform, if 
My grace had not shortened his days? 

Which of you can penetrate the height and 
depth of My mercy? 

It would have been sweet, you say, to have 

raised that young plant Yes, My son, 

there is sweetness in those paternal duties, but 
whence do they come if not from Him who is 
the source of all paternity, and who has placed 



Heart of an Afflicted Father, 37 

in each heart a certain delight in the perform- 
ance of duty? 

Do you not know, however, that the pleasure 
of directing those young steps is ever accom- 
panied by alarm and solicitude? 

Would you have succeeded in governing that 
young heart and subjecting it to My law ; would 
you have preserved it pure from the seductions 
and snares of life? 

How many fathers and mothers who have 
failed in this difficult task would envy the lot 
of him whom you mourn ! 

Were you sure of a brilliant future for him ? 
Who revealed to you the secrets of the Most 
High? Does not the veil which mercifully 
hides the future conceal from your view ter- 
rible scenes? Have you never seen a tender 
mother unflinchingly hold the bitter cup to 
her child in order to save his life ? Am I less 
tender if I offer to your's the cup of heavenly 
bliss in order to save him ? 

That child was Mine ; why do you complain 
if, assuming the rights of a father, I secured to 
him in a little while what your whole life 
would only have commenced? 

Almost at the same hour I introduced him 



38 To the Heart of an Afflicted Father, 

into the life of grace by baptism, and by death 
granted him the glory which is its reward. 

This little one who never spoke the language 
of earth, to-day speaks a language unknown to 
earth, an angelic language in which he prays 
for you and for his mother. He is nourished 
with the heavenly food of love and truth ; how 
can you envy him such an existence? 

My son, God, who demanded of Abraham the 
sacrifice of his only son, often makes present 
trial the means of future reward. Let this 
thought console and encourage you. When a 
man is poor and weak he must not be dejected 
nor despair, but stand with an even mind, re- 
signed to the will of God, and bear for the 
glory of Jesus Christ whatever shall befall 
him ; because after winter comes summer ; after 
night the day returns; after the storm there 
follows a great calm. " (1) 

(1) Imit. II. viii. 



The Same Subject — Continued. 

Beati qui lugenU quoniam ipse consolabuntur. 

(Matt. v. 5.) 



JESUS, 

My son, 1 have demonstrated to you the hap- 
piness of your dear lost one ; now I shall dwell 
upon yourself, and teach you a truth which is 
incomprehensible to the world and difficult of 
belief even to the faithful, but which is never- 
theless a truth and a maxim of the divine 
wisdom, which the opinion of man can never 
annul. 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

' ' Speak, Lord, Thy servant listeneth. Give 
me understanding that I may know Thy tes- 
timonies. Incline my heart to the words of 
Thy mouth: let thy speech distil as the dew." 

JESUS. 

' ' Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall 
be comforted. "(1) These words, which I first 

(1) Matt. v. 5. 



40 Voice of Jesus Speaking to the 

spoke in the mountains of Judea, have been 
echoed through centuries by My apostles and 
disciples — yet how few understand them ! they 
are despised and scorned. Hungry for happi- 
ness and amusement, man allows himself to be 
flattered and deceived by things which minis- 
ter to the senses. The mission of suffering is 
overlooked and misconstrued. Hence the in- 
numerable cries of woe which daily ascend to 
My throne. 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

Lord, at this hour when my soul is over- 
cast, teach me this lesson, not alone for my 
own consolation, but for Thy honor and glory. 
Yes, at the sight of the miseries which 
surround us the world doubts Thy mercy. 
I myself feel my soul troubled when the 
tear of affliction for a moment dims the view 
of Thy clemency. Oh, God ! Pardon my 
weakness and shed upon me the divine rays of 
Thine infinite wisdom. 

JESUS. 

My son, those who loved Me the most, and 
who were the dearest to Me, were those who 
approached nearest to Me upon Calvary. 



Heart of an Afflicted Father. 4 1 

It is a great privilege to participate in My 
sufferings — hence it was that the angel Ra- 
phael said to Tobias : ' 'I offered thy prayer to 
the Lord, and. because thou wast acceptable to 
God it was necessary that temptation should 
prove thee." (1) 

Your faith teaches you that this world is not 
the abode of happiness, but the land of 
trial. 

Suffering is an essential element of this life, 
the field of strife where man, created im- 
mortal, but deprived by sin of his bodily im- 
mortality, may regain eternal happiness; 
thus the more a man suffers, the straighter 
does he walk in the path of salvation. 

Nature rebels. "This savin o* is hard, and 
who can hear it ? " (2) Many still repeat this 
murmur of the Jews, although I have long 
taught them patience by precept and example. 
1 ' Son, I came down from heaven for thy salva- 
tion ; I took upon Me thy miseries, not of 
necessity, but moved thereto by charity, that 
thou mightest learn patience and mightest bear 
without repining the miseries of this life ; for 

U) Tob. xii. 12, 13. (2) John vi- 61. 



42 Voice of jfesus Speaking to the 

from the hour of My birth till My expiring on 
the cross, I was never without suffering. " (1) 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

"Lord, because Thou wast patient in Thy 
lifetime, in this chiefly fulfilling the command- 
ment of Thy Father, it is fitting that I, a 
wretched sinner, should, according to Thy 
will, take all with patience ; and as long as 
Thou pleasest, bear the burden of this cor- 
ruptible life, in order to gain my salvation 
In Thy life is our way : and by holy patience 
we walk on to Thee who art our crown." (2) 

J E S US . 

On earth I was a man of sorrows ; whoever 
wishes to walk in My path must take up his 
cross ; and whoever wishes to share in My 
glory must share in My suffering. ' ' Behold the 
cross is all, and in dying to thyself all con- 
sists. There is no other way to life and to 
true internal peace." (3) 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

Lord, since such is the law, I accept the 
cross which it has been Thy will to send, and I 
(1) Imit. III. xviii. (2) Ibid. (3) Ibid. II. xii. 



Heart of an Afflicted Father. 43 

unite it to Thine. Teach me how to walk 
beneath it, and to bear it worthily, so that 
having borne it here, I may reach that glory 
now possessed by my child. 

JESUS. 

"The disciple is not above the master," 
(1) and should not refuse to tread the same 
path. Every one who desires to be the dis- 
ciple of a crucified God should take up the 
cross. ' ' Set Thyself, then, like a good and 
faithful servant of Christ, to bear manfully 
the cross of Thy Lord, crucified for the love 
of thee." (2) 

My son, I repeat, * ' Blessed are they who 
mourn, for they shall be comforted." Oh! if 
you could but comprehend these words as they 
are comprehended by My saints in heaven ! 
If regret or desire could penetrate paradise, 
what, think you, would form the greatest 
wish of the saints ? They would pray to con- 
tinue to suffer for the love of God, and they 
would almost envy those who still bore the 
cross. When on earth they knew the value of 

(1) Matt- x- 24. (1) imit. II. xii. 



44 Voice of Jesus Speaking to the 

trials and lovingly accepted them as treasures. 

There have been, and there are still, many 
who, fortified by My grace, crucify the body 
and spirit, assume the garb of poverty as a robe 
of honor, sacrifice their own will and willingly 
die martyrs to the love of God and their breth- 
ren, singing a canticle of joy that they are 
counted worthy to suffer. 

One of My faithful servants unceasingly re- 
peated these words: u Let me suffer or die."(l) 
Another, to whom I revealed in a vision all 
that he would have to suffer, exclaimed in an 
ecstasy : l ' Still more, Lord, still more. (2) They 
understood that all the sufferings which we 
could possibly bear are nothing in proportion 
to the rewards which they gain us. 

" When thou shalt arrive thus far, that tribu- 
lation becomes sweet and savory to thee for 
the love of Christ, then think that it is well 
with thee, for thou hast found a paradise on 
earth. "(3) 

Now it is possible for you to see why I often 
allow the load of affliction to fall on those* 
whom I love. 

(1) St. Theresa. (2) St. Francis Xavier. (3) Imit. II. xii. 



Heart of an Afflicted Father. 45 

Under the veil of sorrow I come to them in 
order to instruct them, to try them, and to 
purify their love ; but My hand still holds for 
them a treasure of great price. Happy those 
who recognize My presence. 

By prayer man reaches God. By sorrow 
God reaches man ; thus a tried soul is near to 
God and is sacred. Yes, a blessed halo 
surrounds the brow of suffering; hence is it 
that the Church holds sacred the sick, the 
widow, the orphan. Hence is it that poverty 
is called so sublime that I hide Myself in 
the person of the poor, and that I hold as 
done to Myself the least service done to one of 
these. 

To merit all this reward, suffering in itself 
is not sufficient ; it must be borne worthily, 
with patience, with meekness, with love, as 
it was borne by My Mother and My saints, who 
now reim with Me in heaven. 

Oh ! my son, the Blessed Mary and My saints 
did not pass through life without suffering. 
The greatest amongst them suffered the most, 
but they did not complain. Their feelings are 
expressed by My Apostle thus : ' ' For I reckon 
that the sufferings of this time are not worthy 



4.6 Voice of Jesus Speaking to the 

to be compared with the glory to come, that 
shall be revealed in us." (1) 

Like them, some day you will understand 
the lesson of My chastisements, you will know 
why My beloved, My predestined are often the 
most sorely tried. 

If suffering were not to bear great fruit, 
would I have permitted the heart of My 
Mother to have been pierced with a sword of 
sorrow ? Would I repay service thus ? Learn, 
then, that trials sent from above are the smiles 
of heaven. Blessed the soul that accepts 
them as the child accepts the tenderness of the 
father ! 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

Lord! since it is for my sanctification Thou 
hast sent this trial, Thy will be done. But oh ! 
help me, lest I fall beneath the blow. 

JESUS. 

My son, I ever measure the trial by the 
strength of My servant, and when nature fails 
My grace is nigh to strengthen and to support, 

(1) Paul to the Rom. viii. 18. 



Heart of an Afflicted Father. 47 

but the greater number forget to invoke that 
grace. 

There are many ways in which My cross is 
received : sometimes with hate, and indignation, 
and strokes for the hand that smites, and, in- 
stead of making the evil less, it is thus made 
more bitter, and instead of merit, it calls down 
punishment. By some it is met with coldness, 
and hard fighting. Proud fools, they wrap 
their mantle of stoicism around them and cry, 
"Sorrow, thou art not for such as we." But their 
efforts are fruitless. Sooner or later their en- 
durance gives way, and they find themselves 
stripped of every hope and consolation. 

But there are many who accept their trials as 
an expiation; as a warning sent by My love to 
disenchant them with the illusions of life, and 
to attach them to the real treasures of eternity. 
These souls suffer, but with resignation, and, 
uniting their sufferings to Mine, draw sweet- 
ness from them, and continue to serve Me, 
kissing the rod that chastens. It is My de- 
light to bless these generous souls, as it will 
one day be to reward their fidelity with heav- 
enly treasures. Oh, My son ! would that you 
were of their number. I, Myself, would wipe 



4 8 Voice of Jesus Speaking to the 

away your tears in that land where ' ' death 
shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying. ''(I) 

Courage, then, faithful servant ; be not cast 
down by affliction ; whatever happens, rest se- 
cure in My promises. I am strong to support 
you and bear you up. You will not be forever 
in exile under heavy burdens ; a little patience, 
and you will see the end of your trial ; all that 
passes with time counts for little. ... If you 
could see the glory of the saints in heaven you 
would be willing to suffer here ! Is there any 
price too great for eternal rewards? 

The gain or the loss of the kingdom of God 
is the only thing worth our attention. Lift 
up your eyes to Me and to My saints — they 
bore the struggles of life, and now they are 
safe, beyond all danger, enjoying all the 
sweetness of the blessed kingdom of My 
Father. 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

Lord ! how long before that hour comes to 
me? Alas! my exile is prolonged! When 
shall I be with Thee in the abode prepared for 
Thy elect? When shall I rejoin my child? 

(1) Apoc xxi. 4. 



Heart of an Afflicted Father \ 49 

Oh, shorten my exile, console my grief, for all 
my desires tend towards Thee. This world's 
consolation only oppresses me. I long to taste 
of the sweetness of heaven, but my carnal de- 
sires and unmortified passions drag me down. 
Come to my aid, oh, spiritual light ! Alone 
hereupon earth, deprived of that beloved child 
whose countenance seemed to me like the 
smile of the angels, I cry, oh, when shall my 
exile have an end? 

JESUS. 

Son, the fire often burns, but the flame 
ascends not without smoke ; so also some peo- 
ple's desires are on fire after heavenly things, 
and yet they are not free from temptation of 
fleshly affections. . . .Ask not what is delight- 
ful and commodious for thee, but what is 
pleasant and honorable to Me ; for if thou 
judgest rightly, thou ought est to follow My 
appointment rather than thy own desire, and 
prefer it before all that thou desirest. I know 
thy desire, and have often heard thy sighs. 
Thou wouldst be glad to be at present in the 
liberty of the glory of the children of God ; 
thou wouldst be pleased to be now at thy eter- 



50 Voice of Jesus Speaking to the 

nal home and in thy heavenly country, abound- 
ing with joy ; but that hour is not yet come ; for 
there is yet another time, a time of war, a 
time of labor and trial. 

Thou must yet be tried on earth, and exer- 
cised in many things. Take courage, there- 
fore, and be valiant in doing as in suffering 
things repugnant to nature. 

But consider, son, on the fruit of these la- 
bors, how quickly the latter will end, and how 
exceeding great their reward ; and thou wilt 
not be troubled at them, but strongly com- 
forted in thy sufferings. (1) 

The destiny of the Christian on earth, then, 
is to surfer and to struggle, in order to triumph 
and enjoy. Your child has been s]3ared this 
rude fate; he has gathered without sowing. 
Happy lot ! could your paternal care have, given 
him any brighter? 

As for yourself, still in the lists, you must 
conquer the land gained without effort by in- 
nocent childhood. Enter courageously on the 
royal road of the cross where I have set you 
an example. Leaning upon Me, you will not 
falter, and that sure path will lead you to the 
eternal abode of your son. 

(1) Imit. III. xlix. 



Heart of an Afflicted Father, 51 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

I shall walk therein, Lord, strengthened by 
Thy counsels and example ; but refuse not Thy 
helping hand, for the way is hard and perilous. 
Oh, why was I not called from the cradle to 
this land of unceasing delights ? My eyes 
would not to-day be dimmed with tears, and 
my heart would not be torn with sorrow. 

JESUS. 

You would not then have added a spirit to 
heaven. . . .You would not have offered to My 
glory your present resignation!. . . .My son, 
it is no small thing to have been instrumental 
in the salvation of a soul for which a God 
died. You accomplished this for your son. 

If a longer life had been granted him, you 
would have continued your work ; I saw your 
intentions and they shall be rewarded. 

After God, you were instrumental in your 
son's salvation; do not doubt that his inter- 
cession will help you; courageously continue 
your pilgrimage. Let the remembrance of the 
dear angel urge you to do all that he might 
have done. 



52 Voice of jfesus Speaking to the 

A little while ago you wept that he ' ' had 
rested," and now before your own battle is 
fought you cry for "rest." My son, the hour 
for rest sounds at My pleasure : and until it 
summons, each Christian must stand to his 
post like the good soldier waiting the word of 
command. ' ' Behold the husbandman wait- 
eth for the precious fruit of the earth : patient- 
ly bearing till he receive the early and later. 
Be you therefore also patient, and strengthen 
your hearts ; for the coming of the Lord is at 
hand." (1) 

(1) James v. 7, 8- 



The Same Subject— Concluded. 

Ego sum panis vivw, qui de coelo descendit 

(John vi. 31.) 

JESUS. 

My son, I am about to teach you what as- 
sistance is given you from on high to help you 
to bear the heaviest burdens of life. 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

Speak, Lord, speak, thy servant listeneth. 
Thy voice sounds sweetly in his soul. 

JESUS. 

You say that you are alone, without support. 
Beware! Is the Christian ever alone? Is he 
not always accompanied by his guardian angel? 
And I, the God of all consolation, am I not ever 
knocking at the door of his heart ? World- 
lings know not the immense love I bear the 
creatures for whom I shed My precious blood, 
and that My delight is to be with the children 
of men. Yet what proofs have I not given of 
My love ! What have I left undone ? Have I 
not always loved to converse with man? 



54 Voice of Jesus Speaking to the 

Before man's fall I often appeared to him, 
as friend visiting friend. In the old law I 
conversed with the patriarchs and prophets or 
sent My angels to teach them My ways. Fin- 
ally, at the foretold time I became incarnate in 
the womb of a virgin and remained thirty-three 
years on earth, teaching by word and example. 

I taught man how to live, suffer, and die; 
then I poured out My blood upon the cross for 
his redemption and returned to the bosom of 
My Father, in order to open heaven to him. 

Was not this sufficient to gain the love and 
gratitude of mankind ? But I did more ; hav- 
ing loved My own, I loved them to the end. 
I had said to them, I will not leave you orphans, 
and by a miracle of My power I have perpet- 
uated my presence among men to the end of 
time. I deign to remain with them in their 
exile in order to console and strengthen and 
nourish them. 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

Oh, Lord ! Oh, Father ! Oh, Friend of our 
souls, be Thou ever blessed for such an excess of 
love ! Yes, Thou art our Friend and Brother here 
below. I believe and adore this ineffable 



Heart of an Afflicted Father. 5 5 

Mystery where all hearts find consolation. 
Speak to me, Thou art the eternal word. 

JESUS. 

Listen then ; in order to give you the conso- 
lation you seek I became humble, and con- 
cealed Myself beneath the form of bread, and 
dwelt in temples made by hands. 

In a tabernacle of stone, or marble, or oftener 
of wood, I remain day and night, and thence 
descend into the heart of man when he desires 
it, in order to strengthen him and to become 
one with him. 

Such, My son, is the mystery of the Euchar- 
ist, the mystery of ineffable love, wherein man 
is regenerated in God, and God is united to 
man. 

Truly I am the guide of souls on their painful 
way to heaven. Once Simon the Cyrenean 
helped Me to carry My cross to Calvary : now 
I aid man to bear his burden to the heavenly 
Jerusalem. Come, then, often to the table I 
have prepared for you, and take the bread 
which fortifies on the road to Sion. 

In heaven the blessed live by love ; in the Eu- 
charist man commences to live like the blessed. 



56 Voice of Jesus Speaking to the 

Life becomes an aspiration of divine love, prayer 
becomes the habitual movement of the heart; 
and this movement, nourished by the Euchar- 
ist, which is the light, and love, and life of hea- 
ven, turns earth into paradise. 

In these dispositions, My son, drawing near 
to heaven where your child dwells, you will, 
as much as is permitted on earth, live the life 
led by him and the angels. The purer your 
soul becomes in My eyes, the more you will 
resemble him. 

In that blessed intimacy of which I am the 
connecting link, you will begin to taste of the 
sweets with which I nourish My elect. The 
constant thought of heaven will sow *in your 
soul the peaceful resignation, the sweet and 
strong patience which will make you look for- 
ward to the hour when, freed from the flesh, 
you will enter into eternal happiness. 

Time is short, the hour will soon sound for 
the veil to be removed, and you will see all 
My glory. Then you will understand' all 
things, and your tears will be turned into joy. 

Do you not know that it is written, ' ' Be- 
hold, I will send My angel, who shall go before 
thee, and keep thee in thy journey and bring 



Heart of an Afflicted Fath er. 5 7 

thee into the place that I have prepared"? (1) 
Happy the father who may recognize a child 
in that angel, and who, strengthened by his arm 
and cheered by his smile, follows the path to 
everlasting joy. 

(1) Exod. xxiii. 



Voice of the Guardian Angel to the Heart of 
an Afflicted Father. 



Coalites, o vos beates, luos Deus felicitate 
Supplicum votis adeste et favete singuli. 



THE ANGEL. 

Beloved brother, I am the angel sent to guard 
and protect thy steps, like an elder brother to 
whom an affectionate father has confided a 
younger. Listen to the voice of thy celestial 
visitor. I come to pour balm on thy wounded 
heart. 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

Speak, oh, my angel, heavenly being. Dost 
thou bring me news of my child who dwells 
with thee? 

THE ANGEL. 

Thy son enjoys with me endless and un- 
measurable happiness, but it is thou whom I 



To the Heart of an Afflicted Father. 59 

am to protect. It is thou whom I am to save 
from falling into the pitfall of despair. Our 
divine Master Jesus has already spoken to thy 
heart. Xow listen to me, my language is 
neither sad nor bitter. Let me remind thee of 
one of the most consoling of Christian dogmas, 
and invite thee to find comfort in it. 

THE CHRISTIAN. 

I listen for thy voice, my good angel. May 
it aid me to bear the burden of my days. 

THE ANGEL. 

Beloved brother, the Christian law which 
God has established for man's good, contains 
some dogmas which are hard to nature ; but 
in order to taste its sweetness and feel its wis- 
dom thou must not exclude the bitter. 

The doctrine of the cross which Jesus has 
taught thee is repugnant to the reason and 
pride of nature. The heart of man thirsts af- 
ter happiness and the cross says — suffering is 
necessary. But how sweet is the dogma of the 
communion of the saints — it is like the rainbow 
after the storm. ' \ I believe in the communion 
of saints.' 1 Every day, my brother, thou 



60 Voice of the Guardian Angel 

sayest it in the Creed. Hast thou ever fathomed 
its meaning ? Dost thou realize its efficacy in 
the cure of sorrow, and its strength for the feet 
tottering under trial ? Alas, that this dogma, 
so pregnant of consolation, should be so little 
understood ! In some countries it still nour- 
ishes, but there are others where those pestilen- 
tial winds called Protestantism, philosophy, 
materialism, have blasted its fruit, even in 
the hearts of the faithful, and many a life is 
sad and barren because it disdains the help of 
heavenly friends. Are earthly friends so 
faithful that they are never found wanting ? 

In the days of more lively faith this tenet 
nourished and exerted a most benign in- 
fluence. The daily dependence of the Church 
militant on earth on the Church triumphant in 
heaven threw over the former a sweet and • 
tender halo. Those thorny paths of life were 
more easily passed when protecting, heavenly 
arms guided the faithful. Yes, in those days 
not only each individual, but each country, 
each city, each trade had its patron whose 
venerated name lent a charm to joy and conso- 
lation to grief. 

Invocation of them was not confined to their 



To the Heart of an Afflicted Father, 6 1 

feasts. The inhabitants of heaven were the 
protectors of the fireside, the guides and 
models on life's pilgrimage, and the confidant 
of the vows and desires of the wayfarer. 

Thus earth was in constant communication 
with heaven ; man was not always bent to- 
wards the earth, for a golden chain drew him 
heavenwards, and at each hour of trial he 
turned to his patron and was enabled to bear 
the burden of life the more easily that he be- 
lieved himself strengthened from above. 

Oh ! suffering and stricken father ! since 
thou art a partaker in this consoling belief, 
come, attach thy soul to this wonderful 
chain ; far from crushing or repressing, it will 
disengage thee from earth, raise thy thoughts 
to heaven and restore thee to the true liberty 
of the sons of God. 

• The chains with which the world binds its 
votaries are heavy, while those which unite us 
to God and his saints are light and strengthen- 
ing. They are like Jacob's ladder on which the 
angels and saints of God ascend and descend 
with messages of love ; take hold of it and do 
not let it go. 

Beloved brother, the eye which is constantly 



62 Voice of the Guardian Angel. 

turned towards God's saints does not so easily 
rill with tears. Living in spirit in their holy 
society, thou wilt by hope and thought inhabit 
that heaven whither thy son has preceded thee. 
Thy days will pass more happily and serenely, 
and its sweet influences will rill thy heart. 

When the sunflower is turned from the 
great luminary from which it takes its name, 
it fades and dies. In like manner, when the 
soul in the hour of trial fails to continually 
turn towards God and His saints, it faints and 
is choked by the thorns on its way. 

Dear brother, with thine eyes, then, directed 
to God and His sanctified, bear patiently this 
life and when its trials affright thee, let the re- 
compense encourage thee. (1) 

With more confidence than ever invoke 
Mary, the comfortress of the afflicted, and 
the patron saints. What dost thou fear ? Am 
not I, thy guardian angel, and is not that 
blessed spirit who was thy child, continually 
at the foot of God's throne, joining our hands 
in offering Him thy vows and begging Him 
to let fall upon thee the sweet dews of His 
mercy ? 

(1) Si labor terret, merces invitet. (St. Bern.) 



The Voice of the Saviour Jesus to the Heart 
of a Bereaved Mother. 

Smite parvulos venire ad me. 

(Mark. x. 14.) 

JESUS CHRIST. 

Come to Me, My daughter ; have I not said by 
the mouth of My prophet, ''Call upon Me in 
the day of trouble : I will deliver thee and 
thou shalt glorify Me." (1) Yes, " The spirit 
of the Lord is upon me, whereof He hath 
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, He 
hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart." (2) 
Come then, what dost thou fear ? Is not the 
God who loves little children the Father of 
those who bring them into life ? 

THE MOTHER. 

Lord, behold me at Thy feet, alone, stricken, 
Droken. Tears bathe my face. The weight 

(DPs. xlix. 15. (2)Lukeiv. 18. 



64 Voice of the Saviour Jesus 

of grief bears me down. Ah ! if Thou wert 
my father, wouldst Thou not have had pity 
on me ? 

JESUS CHRIST. 

My daughter, I have pity for thee, for I 
know thy affliction. It was I who formed the 
mother's heart and I know her love for her chil- 
dren. I understand well thy love for thy son . . . 
But even through thy tears behold the Father's 
hand wiping them away : behold, it is Mine 
pointing out to thee a spirit newly elected, 
bright in glory ! Christian mother, raise thine 
eyes, it is thy son. 

THE M C) T HER. 

My son! where is he? Let me see him. 
Let him come to my arms and I shall be happy. 

JESUS CHRIST. 

Behold him, close to Me, in My heavenly 
kingdom. He is happy and thou weepest ! If 
touched by thy tears, I were to offer to restore 
him to life, wouldst thou take him? 

T H E MOTHER. 

Lord ! I would not dare. I would tremble 
for him ! How bitter this earth would Seem to 
him who had tasted the delights of heaven ! 



To the Heart of a Bereaved Mother. 6 5 

JESUS CHRIST. 

Why, then, deplore a separation which thou 
wouldst not end? Oh! no, My daughter! leave 
thy child with Me. What does he want more? 
Am I not all goodness and all power? If I 
charge myself with his happiness why wilt 
thou not trust him to Me ? 

My daughter, thou didst not give thy life 
for thy son. I shed every drop of My blood in 
order to open heaven to him. Is not My love 
even more tender than thine ? Then how canst 
thou fear for the happiness of thy little one? 

T HE MOTHER, 

Oh, my God ! May he be infinitely happy 
with Thee in heaven ! But what is to become 
of me on earth, having lost him? 

JESUS CHRIST. 

My daughter, such language is of the earth, 
earthy. So speak the men of this world. They 
look on those as lost whom they cannot see 
with mortal eyes. But can we say that the 
pilgrim of many wanderings is lost because he 
has found the paternal roof, and his weary feet 



66 Voice of the Saviour Jesus 

rest in the true fatherland? Christian mother, 
thy son is not lost ; on the contrary, he is safe in 
the paternal bosom. He has reached his 
eternal home. 

If a long life had been granted him, one 
day, like the young eagle, he would have 
taken night from the parental nest ; and thou 
wouldst have followed him with a sad and 
anxious eye ; the thought of him would be 
fraught, perhaps, with care. How many ques- 
tioning mothers' hearts remain unanswered ! 
Ah ! how much reason have they to say that 
their sons are lost, for while they know not 
their destiny here, they see them wander 
from the path of rectitude, and know not 
if they will refind it. 

Happier is the mother whose beloved child, 
sheltered in My paternal bosom, is safe in the 
harbor of salvation, to which she herself is 
sailing, and where she is sure to find him sur- 
rounded by choirs of saints and angels. 

THE MOTHER. 

Oh! happy day when I shall see him again! 
Blessed morn that shall discover him to me 



To the Heart of a Bereaved Mother. 6j 

shining with the light of heaven! Lord, I 
know that I loved my child with an excessive 
love ; but why didst Thou give me so much 
affection for him? Was it that I should the 
more keenly feel the sacrifice which Thou 
wert so soon to demand? 

JESUS CHRIST. 

Some day, daughter, thou wilt understand 
My ways in thy regard, and thou wilt bless My 
apparent severity. I know thy love for thy 
son — every one loved him ; but before his birth 
thou didst offer him to Me. Dost thou think 
that My love for him was less than thine or 
that of his friends ? Was it not I who 
filled thy heart with that tender, maternal love 
which is only a feeble reflection of My own? 

Does not he who gives his life for his friend 
love with a sovereign love ? I gave My life for 
man, who then loves him more? Dost thou 
not know, Christian mother, that I love little 
children with a special love? I love their 
truth, their simplicity, their innocence. Of 
such as they is the kingdom of heaven. 

One day some mothers presented their little 



68 Voice of the Saviour Jesus 

ones to Me to bless. My disciples tried to pre- 
vent them, but I said, forbid them not, for of 
such is the kingdom of heaven, and having 
blessed them I placed my hands upon them. (1) 
In heaven I retain this special love, and for 
some in a stronger degree ; and to the kingdom 
which is theirs, I call these early, as you 
sometimes see an earthly father place a favor- 
ite son in possession of his inheritance. Happy 
mother, your little one was of the latter class ; 
how can you complain of My want of love? 

THE MOTHER. 

No, Lord. Blessed be Thy name! But 
would Thy love for my son have been less if 
Thou hadst left him a little longer upon earth, 
to serve Thee, to work for Thy honor and to 
have merited to appear before Thee with the 
glory of a saint? 

JESUS CHRIST. 

It pleased me to give him the crown of in- 
nocence : is it not sufficiently brilliant to gratify 
a mother's ambition? My daughter, the first 

(1) Mark x. 14. 



To the Heart of a Bereaved Mother. 69 

fruit has always been the most agreeable offer- 
ins* to Me. In the Jewish law the first-born 
was always consecrated to Me. (1) Often it is 
My pleasure to call to Myself this first-born. 
I am a jealous God who recalls His gifts and 
often chooses the fairest and best. Then 
there is weeping and mourning, and yet, 
blessed is the family that knows its first-born 
safe in heaven, to be there its protector and 
guiding star. 

THE M O T H E R. 

Oh, my God ! Thou art eternal truth. I be- 
lieve that Thy love for my son exceeded mine ; 
it was this love which called him to Thee ! 

J E S IT S CHRIST. 

My daughter, it was this love for children 
that made Me say by the mouth of My prophet : 
' 'He pleased God and was beloved, and living 
among sinners he was translated ; he was taken 
away lest wickedness should alter his under- 
standing or deceit beguile his soul. Being 
made perfect in a short space, he fulfilled a long 

(1) Exod. xxxiv. 



jo Voice of the Saviour Jesus 

time : for his soul pleased God : therefore, he 
hastened to bring him out of the midst of ini- 
quities." (1) 

The world cannot understand God's ways to 
his elect when He conducts them through death 
in youth to the glory of heaven. Thy faith, 
Christian mother, makes thee see these things. 
Weep not, then, like those who are without 
hope. May thy hope bring comfort to thy sac- 
rifice and sweetness to thy tears ! 

THE MOTHER. 

"The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken 
away : as it hath pleased the Lord so is it done. 
Blessed be the name of the Lord."(2) These 
words, which I have placed on his little tomb- 
stone, bear testimony to my faith and my resig- 
nation to Thy will. Yes ! happy is the child 
who leaves this world without having known 
its trials ! But what shattered hopes for the poor 
mother who survives him ! Oh ! how sweet it 
would have been to watch over his young days, 
to have shielded his innocence and to have 
nursed virtue in his pure soul. Assisted by 

(1) Wisdom iv- 13, 14. (2) Job i. 21. 



To the Heart of a Bereaved Mother. 7 1 

Thy grace, Lord, this would have been sweet 
work and a welcome task. My tender care for 
my son would have found favor in Thine eyes. 
What would I not have done for him and for 
Thee? . Behold me now, a profitless servant 
with nothing to offer. 

JESUS CHRIST. 

Thou hast offered Me a pure spirit. Thou hast 
added to the number of My elect in heaven. 
Thy tender care for even a short time will have 
its recompense. My daughter, listen to Me ; if 
a beautiful picture, the product of thy hand, so 
pleased Me that I asked for it to decorate My 
altar, wouldst thou refuse it? Then, tender 
mother, why dost thou weep because thy son is 
called to sit among saints and angels in My 
eternal tabernacle? 

THE MOTHE P. 

Though the place which my son now has is 
beautiful, would it not have been brighter if, 
trained by my watchful care, he had long 
walked the paths Thou Thyself hast marked? 
Thou from wham nothing is hidden, know est 



72 Voice of the Saviour Jesus 

the hopes that filled my heart for my child. I 
had consecrated him to Thee. Often I looked 
forward to the day when in him I would 
perhaps be allowed to kiss the brow of Thy or- 
dained priest .... Then, indeed, I would be a 
happy mother! My son, devoted to Thy glory 
and the salvation of souls, would not then as- 
cend to heaven alone, but preceded by multi- 
tudes to whom he had shown the narrow way. 
His glory in heaven would be brighter, and his 
name on earth would not have been as the fall- 
ing star, which flashes and is lost in darkness. 



JESUS CHRIST. 

My daughter, thy generous impulses will one 
day be rewarded. I hold in My hand the emo- 
tions of the heart which bear the fruit of the 
love of God, and I distribute them as seems to 
Me best among My servants, but no creature 
must call Me to account for My gifts. Even 
the most generous desires must be directed by 
My will. One day, during My sojourn on earth, 
a woman approached Me with her tw T o sons; 
adoring, she said to Me : ' ' Say that these my 
two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, 



To the Heart of a Bereaved Mother. 73 

and the other on Thy left in Thy kingdom." (1) 
I answered her : ' ' You know not what you ask. 
Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink V 
The sons answered : "We can.'- I said: "My 
chalice, indeed you shall drink : but to sit on 
My right or left hand is not Mine to give to 
you, but to them for whom it is prepared by 
My Father." (1) Thus, My daughter, all must 
be submitted to My wise law. 

In the heavenly Jerusalem the great architect 
selects all the stones, large and small. Each 
one has its place in the harmonious whole. If 
He had thought another rank better for thy 
son, He would have left him on earth. He did 
not so Avill it. Adore His decree ; some day 
thou wilt understand the wisdom. 

Whence all those vain desires and wild am- 
bition? If thou couldst but know the glory 
of thy son, even mother ambition would be sat- 
isfied. Beware of valuing heavenly gifts by 
earth's estimates, which, being finite, are as 
nothing in the spiritual order. Jealousy and 
envy make man value honor as it elevates him 
above his fellow. 

(1) Matt. xx. 20, 23. 



74 Voice ofihe Saviour Jesus. 

In heaven it is not thus, the happiness of the 
least is eternal, and leaves nothing wanting to 
the pure spirit. Christian mother, dwell on the 
happiness of thy son. He sees thee, he smiles 
on thee in charity and would feigu dry thy 
tears; if the remembrance of him makes them 
flow, let them be filled with hope. What dost 
thou still fear? Thy Emmanuel prays for thee 
that thou too one day shall be crowned.- 



Voice of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God 
and our Mother. , 

Ecce Mater tua. — (St. John). 



CHRISTIAN MOTHER. 

Holy Virgin, my mother and my patroness, 
I cast myself at thy feet. Take pity upon me. 
Obtain for me strength and courage, or draw 
me to heaven that I may find my son . 

M A R Y. 

Come to me, my daughter. I am the corn- 
fortress of the afflicted. Poor mother, I know 
thy sorrow, for I too had an only Son. I saw 
Him expire on the cross. Come to me, we 
shall mourn together. Am I not the Mother of 
sorrow ? 

CHRISTIAN MOTHER. 

He bore thy name ; before his birth I con- 
lecrated him to thee. The dav he was born I 



j 6 Voice of the Blessed Virgin, 

joyously hung around his neck thy medal, 
and in honor of thy spotless purity he al- 
ways was clad in white. Each day I prayed 
to thee in his behalf, and loved to join his 
baby hands in anticipation of his turning his 
heart to thee. 

M A R Y. 

I smiled on those prayers and bore them to 
the throne of my Son and offered them to Him. 

THE MOTHER. 

I loved to take him to thy sanctuaries. To- 
gether we had made several pilgrimages. I 
tried to do everything to gain thy protection. 
Sweet memories ! useless vows! enchanting 
dreams, vanished forever ! 

MARY. 

My daughter, listen to my voice. When a 
grateful mother brings her first-born to my 
altars, what is her greatest desire ? Is it not 
that I accept it and multiply in its favor the 
graces of which my Son has made me the dis- 
penser ? 



Mother of God and our Mother. jj 

THE MOTHER. 

Certainly, most Blessed Virgin. Thou 
knowest such was my desire. 

MARY, 

And when I give her some mark that her 
offering has been accepted and that my favor 
will fall like soft dew upon her, ought she to 
leave weeping? 

T PI E MOTHER. 

No, my sweet patroness, on the contrary, a 
deep gratitude should fill her heart. 

MAR Y. 

My beloved daughter, listen to me still. Is 
not this what I have done for you? Thou 
callest me justly thy patroness. Have I not 
always been so ? From thy earliest youth thou 
hast sought my protection. Educated by a 
pious mother, thou looked on me as a second 
mother. Joining my sodality, thou wert de- 
tached from the vanities of life, thou didst wear 
my livery and day by day didst tell my beads. 
And I, my daughter, who love even the sinner, 



78 Voice of the Blessed Virgin, 

could I have neglected thee ? Oh, no, I saved 
thee from many a danger and led thee as if by 
the hand ; later I blessed thy union with a mate 
worthy of thee. Thou hast offered thy sup- 
plications in many of my sanctuaries ; I heard 
them and carried them to my Son, who granted 
them. Thou becamest a mother, a beauteous son 
was given to thee and thou wert called happy. 
What did I not do to merit thy gratitude ? 

THE MOTHER. 

And was I wanting in gratitude ? Did I not 
offer my treasure on thy altar ? In fulfillment 
of a vow, did I not visit one of thy sanctu- 
aries ? 

MARY, 

Yes, my daughter, I beheld thee mounting 
that high hill in order to offer thy son. I 
loved thy faith and trust and accepted the 
offering. Thou didst ask eternal happiness for 
thine Emmanuel. I took the prayer to the throne 
of the Most High ! He has gained it, my 
daughter ! Do not weep. Dost thou not re- 
member that in that church, yet uncompleted, 



Mother of God and our Mother. 79 

alms were solicited in order to purchase stone 
for the edifice ? It was cheerfully given ; wilt 
thou not give God the precious stone He asks 
in order to set it in His everlasting temple ? 

THE MOTHER. 

Take it May he be forever happy 

with you, oh, Jesus and Mary ! Oh, if I could 
only see him ! If a ray of his happiness would 
but penetrate my broken heart ! 

M A R Y. 

A ray of celestial glory penetrate an earthly 
heart ! It would overwhelm it ! In order to 
enjoy the happiness of heaven, man must be 
stripped of the casings of the body and be 
clothed with the pure garment of immortality. 
"The eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, nor 
hath it entered into the heart of man to con- 
ceive what God has prepared for those who 
love Him." This is the indescribable bliss 
which thy son now enjoys. If thy wish 
could be granted, thou wouldst see him resplen- 
dent in glory, surrounded by that troop of vir- 
gins who follow the Lamb. Far from grieving, 



80 Voice of the Blessed Virgin, 

thou wouldst join in Ms alleluias to the thrice- 
holy god ! But the time is not yet, thine hour of 
trial is not over, but one day the veil will be 
lifted and thou too wilt enter the kingdom of 
God. In the mean time, let thy faith fortify 
thee and thy hope sustain thee ! My daughter, if 
my glory is dear to thee, why dost thou mourn 
that another voice sings the praises of the 
queen of angels ? 

THE MOTH E R . 

August queen, let him not forget his mother 
and his friends here. Let him be their protec- 
tor and the means of God^ graces to them ! 

M A R Y. 

My daughter, far from having lost thy son, 
thou hast gained in him a friend in heaven. 
This thought should rejoice thy heart. Alas ! 
if this earth be so full of pitfalls, how happy 
the family that has friends in heaven ! They 
are like the stars which at night guide the 
mariner. If the saints are the guides and pro- 
tectors of those who are in heaven, oh, what 
of the mother whose child rests in the bosom 



Mother of God and our Mother. 8 1 

of God! Can she not urge the duty of gratitude 

on one whom she had brought into life, nour- 
ished with her milk, and watched over day 
and night ? 

On earth we may see ungrateful children ; 
but in heaven, the home of pure charity, sure- 
ly filial love is perfect. Was it not this that 
induced my Jesus to make me so powerful ? 

Rise up, then, Christian mother, and remem- 
ber what the Church teaches with regard to 
the saints. What is a creature elected to 
heaven? A chain between God and man : unit- 
ed to God, it is made strong by His power. His 
knowledge and His love : stretched towards 
man, it bears him the love of a friend and guides 
and protects him in his trials and struggles. 

This friend discovers at the very source of 
grace the means of healing earthly wounds; 
and inflamed and dilated by union with God 
and the companionship of saints and angels, 
his charity goes out to those on this earth who 
are destined one day to enjoy with him the 
happiness of heaven ! 

My daughter, such is the state and power of 
thy dear child ! Unite, therefore, thy thoughts 
and desires to the communion of saints, the 



82 Voice of the Blessed Virgin. 

sweet bond of Christianity! Often invoke the 
assistance of thy child for thyself and others : 
by this practice thou wilt accustom thyself to 
see in thought his young brow encircled by 
the saintly halo of the elect. 

Beautiful as he was in thine arms, he is much 
more fair in the bright reflection of God's 
glory. 

The certain belief of his happiness will allay 
thy grief until the day when thou shalt join 
him in. everlasting bliss. 



A Mother and the Guardian Angel of her Son. 



THE MOTHER. 

Blessed angel! tell nie, what hast thou 
done with my child? 

THE ANGEL. 

From the hour of his birth I spread my 
white wings above him. Being appointed to 
be his guardian, I watched beside him. Dost 
thou not remember the thousand infantine graces 
which, to thine eyes were so sacred? They 
were the exhalations of my presence ; even in 
sleep I watched above him ; have I been want- 
ing in my guardianship ? 

THE MOTHER. 

Thanks, good angel, for thy brotherly care, 
but why didst thou not join thy prayers to mine 
in order to obtain for him a longer life? Hadst 



84 A Mother and the 

thou wearied of thy charge ? Was he not hap- 
py with me? Does not earth enjoy a bright 
sun, a soft spring, many things which made 
him happy? And oh! I was so happy in him! 
Would it have lessened thy bliss to have ob- 
tained a longer life for him? 

THE ANGEL. 

Dear sister, speak not thus. It is not their 
own bliss which the saints and angels seek, but 
the glory of God, who is the source of all their 
happiness. Earth does not comprehend the 
designs of heaven. The language of the world 
gives forth echoes of egotism and inordinate 
love ; its thoughts are not the thoughts of God 
or of His saints. 

Above, the divine will is always ours, be- 
cause it is directed by the paternal love which 
He bears all His creatures, and which de- 
cides their destiny. 

Thou speakest of a glorious sun, of bright 
days . . . Oh, dear sister, if thou couldst but see 
the rays which illuminate the brows of the elect, 
thy sun would seem as the dark night. 

Thy beloved son, encircled as he is by the 
resplendent light of the chosen of God, now 



Guardian Atigel of her Son. 85 

regards as a dim ray that glorious sun which 
shines by day, and so grandly proclaims the 
glory of the Master. 

THE MOTHER. 

If my son had been spared, he would have 
learned from my lips to know and serve this 
great God. He would have prayed to thee, and 
I trust no action of his would have grieved thee. 



THE ANGEL. 

Poor mother ! art thou ignorant of the 
wickedness of the world where thou wouldst 
have retained thy son ? Is not that field 
which they call life choked with thorns and 
difficult to cross ? It is full of hardships to 
encounter and enemies to overcome. Each 
age has it dangers and trials: infancy, man- 
hood, old age unite in one cry of woe. 

There are, it is true, some who, guided by 
heavenly winds, sail safely over this tempest- 
uous sea, but would thy child have been of the 
number ? Who revealed to thee his destiny ? 

Thou sayest that he had already shown a good 



86 A Mother and the 

disposition and a quick intellect, which a well- 
directed education would develop into noble 
and generous actions. 

Oh, poor mother, what reason thou hadst to 
tremble ! In this age of corruption and self- 
ishness the good have the most to suffer. 
Through life their candor is often chilled by 
misunderstanding and their hopes blasted by- 
delusion. Often there exists in them the lack of 
power to carry out the good which they thirst 
for, and this makes them miserable, resem- 
bling in some measure those blessed souls who 
in purgatory continually sigh for the supreme 
beauty which they know but cannot enjoy. 
They are like the sons of kings imprisoned in 
the peasant's hut. 

Thy son has been spared all these trials. In 
crying over his tomb thou weepest over the 
early acquisition of his happiness. 

THE MOTHE R. 

Yes, I know that the innocent are often de- 
ceived by the wicked, who look on candor 
and amiability as weakness and narrowness. 
Truthfulness and trustfulness are often mis- 



Guardian An gd of her Son. 8j 

interpreted, and modesty and friendship un- 
appreciated. 

Oh ! my Emmanuel, safe from this deceitful 
world, enjoy your happiness. You saw naught 
around you but smiling countenances. Your 
life was short, but it was without cloud, 
blessed be your present joy; may the remem- 
brance of it replace your smile to me. and 
wipe away my tears ! 



THE A X G E L. 

Christian mother, in comparing the joy of 
heaven with the misery of earth, thou wilt learn 
resignation, and perchance some day happi- 
ness. 

TYho can paint the miseries of this earth? 
and if they seem so terrible to you who are 
still pilgrims, how must they appear to us who 
view them from our heavenly home ? 

>Yhen the great Master commands us to 
bring hither to Him in all its innocence a new- 
ly-born child, we hasten with joy to obey. 
We tarry not with the message to the cradle ; 
and bear the treasure back to heaven and place 
it pure and unstained in the divine bosom. 



83 A Mother mid the 

All the choirs of angels rejoice and congratu- 
late the newly-chosen who is to be their com- 
panion in everlasting bliss. Dear sister, raise 
thine eyes from the tears of earth to contem- 
plate the scene. Christian mothers! if you 
did but know the gift of God (1) when He De- 
stows heaven on your little ones, far from 
weeping and sighing, you would join your 
voices to the eternal hosannas in praise of the 
Most High! 

TH E M OT II EK . 

How can we sing in our exile? Thou dost not 
know, good angel, that when a mother loses 
her child life becomes banishment ; and that 
her heart is in heaven with her treasure. 

Guardian angel of my child, come take his 
mother home. 



THE ANGEL. 

Xo, dear sister, life is yet left to thee as a 
trial and a talent which thou must multiply. 
Each day is full of merit. Thou must live for 

(1) Johniv. 10. 



Guardian Angel of her Son. 89 

your husband, and if it be God's will to be- 
stow upon you other children, you must live 
for them. Together we will bear life ; and the 
prayers of your child in heaven will protect 
the whole family. Oh, how powerful is the 
prayer of innocence ! What can be refused to 
the prayer of a spirit praying for its mother ? 
Sometimes you see the members of a family 
growing marvellously in virtue and knowledge, 
and you wonder. Mothers! do you forget 
that your prayers are borne to the great white 
throne by the innocent hands you gave to 
heaven } 



A Father Communing with the Angel 
of his Dead Child. 

tk Behold how lie loved him." 

(John xi. 36;. 

T H E A N G E I . 

" Our soul hath been delivered, as a sparrow 
out of the snare of the fowlers : the snare is 
broken and we are delivered. Our help is in 
the name of the Lord, who made heaven and 
earth." (1) Glory to God in the highest ! 

THE FATHER. 

What words are these which I hear ? Do 
they come from heaven, or from the valley of 
tears ? 

THE ANGEL. 

I sing the canticle of the deliverance of the 
little children who have returned to their God, 
(1) Ps. -exxiii. 7-8. 



With the Angel of his Dead Child. 9 1 

the canticle of your Emmanuel. What, . . . 
you are still weeping and despondent, when he 
whom you mourn is at the very source of hap- 
piness ! 

THE FATHER. 

Good angel, I dwell on the happiness of my 
son. This morning at sunrise I opened my 
windows and beheld the beautiful flowers 
opening to the soft, bright April aurora. I 
said to myself, behold all earth is clad with 
blossoms, but my son is not here to enjoy it ! 
Then the idea of the everlasting spring en- 
joyed by the elect took possession of me, and 
my tears flowed. 

THE ANGEL. 

If earth, the valley of tears and of exile seems 
so fair to you, consider what must be the king- 
dom of the riches of God, the all-powerful ! 
You speak of spring, of beautiful days. Oh, 
if you could but see the brightness of the saints, 
the most beautiful day would be as night ! 

But you cannot comprehend the magnifi- 
cence of the kingdom ; and this is the reason 
that the remembrance of your son makes your 
tears flow. 



92 A Father Communing 



THE FATHER 



Blessed angel ! your words and those tears 
are sweet to rny heart. Let thern flow. Can 
our Saviour Jesus Christ, who often wept Him- 
self, condemn the tears of a wretched father ? 

THE ANGEL. 

Certainly He will not. Weep on, tender 
father, the chosen of God weep. Jesus wept 
over the tomb of Lazarus, and the Jews seeing 
His tears, said : "Behold how He loved him."(l) 
Shall I not say of you, behold how he loved 
his son ? These signs of grief command the 
respect of men. Let them fall from your eyes ; 
and may they, instead of embittering, be a 
source of refreshment to your wounded heart 

Tears are a blessing from heaven ; there is 
something divine in them which mirrors a 
source of grace in the depths of the soul ; and 
they find consolation from above. The bitter- 
est grief is relieved by the softening tear, 
which seems to be the outlet of the oppressed 
heart. What tongue can describe the irresisti- 
ble power of tears? Many of the most zealous 

(1) John xi. 30. 



With the Angel of his Dead Child. 93 

saints won souls to God by them ; and it may- 
be said that among the highest in God's king- 
dom are those who wept most on earth. Hence 
the prayer of the great St. Augustine. (1) 
Blessed be God, who has given this relief to his 
servants in this vale of tears : and has attached 
to them the sweet promise, " Blessed are they 
who weep, for they shall be comforted.' 1 

THE FATHER. 

Oh, divine words! I love your sound. 
Blessed are they who weep ..... Oh, yes, I felt 
the blessing when tears filled my eyes as I bent 
over the cradle of my sleeping boy ! But why 
tears then? Were they a foreshadowing of his 
destiny? There was no bitterness in those tears. 
Some times there was a certain feeling of 
anxiety, but the recollection of the Blessed Vir- 
gin, his protectress, reassured me. Often, fol- 
lowing the example of a certain saint, (2) I bent 

(1) St. Augustine— Da mini gratiam lacrymarum. 

(2) St. Leonides, father of Origen, was so pleased with 
his son's growth in virtue and learning that he used to 
approach him when sleeping and, uncovering his breast^ 
kiss it as the sanctuary of the image of God. 



94 A Father Communing 

and kissed his naked breast, and then my 
happy tears would flow. Gentle guardian, tell 
me why? 



THE AN G E L . 

Happy father, it was the excess of thy bliss, 
of u thy tenderness, of thy anxiety, of thy 
undefined dreams, all vying with each other 
for the mastery. Weak man would seem to 
have but one way of expressing the extreme of 
joy and of grief — each shows itself in tears. 

Tears, dear brother, I repeat, are blessed. 
u Blessed are they that mourn.'" If thou art 
formed with a particularly keen sensibility, far 
from repining at it, let us together thank God 
for His gift. Thou feelest more deeply than 
others the pangs of grief, but in the same pro- 
portion thou art alive to the touch of the Divine 
hand stretched out to heal the wound. The pro- 
mise will be fulfilled ; thou art blessed in thy 
tears, for thou wilt one day be consoled. Has 
not that heavenly consolation, even in these 
sad days, been heard above the sighs of hu- 
man nature? 



With the Angel of his Dead Child. 95 



THE FATHER. 

Yes, I feel consoled but continue, good 

angel, to speak to roy soul ; make me under- 
stand, if possible, the happiness of my beloved 
child. 

THE ANGEL, 

Each day thou canst say: I know, without 
doubt, that my beloved son is happy : As sure 
as there is a God in heaven and that Jesus 
Christ died for the salvation of man, he enjoys 
a happiness as complete as it is eternal. His 
present happiness immeasurably surpasses my 
highest ambition. He rests in the bosom of 
God in company with the angels and saints, 
surrounded by all that is truly great, and good, 

noble and pure Oh, what thoughts \ Happy 

father, the deeper thy love was the greater 
must now be thy joy. 

The worldling seeks to forget the subject of 
his grief, but thou, dear brother, thou wilt not 
cast off the recollection of thy first-born ; the 
thought of him will refresh thy soul as a gentle 
breeze wafted from the heavenly shores. Yes, the 



96 A Fathe.r Communing 

remembrance of him will be embalmed in celes- 
tial perfume, sweet and delicious. Thou wilt 
commune with thy son as with a friend in 
heaven ; and, if it be sweet to converse with 
an earthly friend, oh, who can say what 
it is to commune with one of the elect of 
God? Blessed then jjre those tears of resigna- 
tion and love which bedew thy cheek and 
which will be gathered by the angels of 
God to descend as grace ujoon thy refreshed 
soul 

Dear brother, this earth which was the home 
of thy Emmanuel, is rilled with brambles and 
thorns, where even the purest soul is quickly 
sullied. As a sheep cannot pass through the 
briery way without leaving on each bush pieces 
of its wool, so man's steps through life are 
often marked by remnants of his innocence. 
Happy is he who may regain it ; still more 
happy he who carries it to heaven in all its 
baptismal purity! 

What is that life, from which the eternal 
King has recalled thy son? A sea beset with 
shoals and quicksands. When a storm comes 
do we not find the .weary mariner secure in 
the life boat what he holds most dear, and 



With the Angel of his Dead Child. 97 

thank God if the precious burden reaches port? 
Happy the father who, seeing his son drifting 
on the sea of life, can cry : Blessed be God. he 
is safe in port. 



A Mother Communing with her Son. 

Te Deum Laudamm. 



Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, 
Dominus Deus Sabaoth ! 



THE MOTHER 



What do I see? My son, is it you that I see 
clad in white and flying o'er the field, sur- 
rounded by that throng of angels and virgins 
who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth? 

EMMANU EL. 

Yes, my mother; but why are you in tears? 
Formerly your smile answered mine. Here, 
at the source of all joy, our brows are forever 
resplendent with angelic smiles. Why, then, 
are you sad? 

THE MOTHER. 

My child, it is for you that I weep. My 
tears flow because I can no more embrace you, 



A Mother Communing with her Son. 99 

no more press to my bosom the precious fruit 
of my womb ! 

You fly from me. Oh, why not tarry? Let me 
once more kiss thee, thou joy of my heart; 
and then I shall be consoled ! 

EMMANUEL. 

The body which you loved was but a prison 
house ; freed from its fetters, I enjoy the liberty 
of the blessed. ' ' Our soul hath been delivered 
as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers. 
The snare is broken, and we are delivered." (1) 
And even this body will one day be restored 
to me glorified. Then you will see in its 
perfection the gem which you now mourn. 
Oh, sweet mother, if you love me, cease to 
weep. Surely you do not grudge me my 
happiness? Ah! increase my happiness by 
joining with me in glorifying the Lord. 

THE MOTHER. 

Yes, my son, I glorify God who is so rich in 

mercy and I thank Him for having bestowed 

such a kingdom on you for eternity. I could 

only give you of my life blood and my milk 

(1) Ps. cxxiii. 7. 



loo A Mother Communing with her Son. 

, . . . But why can I not see a ray of your 
glory? Oh! if I could but reach that heaven 
where you are and press you in my arms. 
Nothing would again separate us. I would 
stay with you or once more bring you to this 
earth where heretofore I was so happy. 

E M MANUEL. 

You call me to you ! Oh, my mother, that 
world through which I passed so quickly now 
seems to me but a land of pitfalls and a sea of 
troubles. And you would recall me to it ! . . . 
You weep because my guardian angel, at 
the voice of the King of heaven, bore me on 
his wing to the eternal kingdom. Ah, if you 
could but understand the reception awaiting in- 
nocence, and the joy which overwhelms the 
newly-received angel ! 

Mother, at my birth an unknown joy rilled 
your soul and you thought yourself blessed. 
That joy, were it increased a hundred-fold, 
would not equal a drop in the surging ocean 
of our unceasing bliss. 

If on awaking you found at your side your 
Emmanuel, your joy would be great, and yet 



A Mother Communing with her Son. 101 



* 



it would be as nothing compared to the rap- 
ture of the beatific vision of the Holy Trinity 
in its magnificent majesty. 



THE MOTHER. 

My son, since I cannot go to you, at least come 
to me in spirit. Remember her who gave you 
life : become her angel guardian ; love her as 
she loves you. 

E M M A N U E L . 

My mother, here we drink in all knowledge 
and see by the light emitted from the author 
of enlightenment the destined mission of all 
creatures, and the reasons for what on earth 
is unaccountable. Far better than you your- 
self I know the depth of the love you bear me 
ana with gratitude my spirit dwells on you. 
Why, alas, do I find only sadness in your face 
and tears in your eyes: 

THE MOTHER. 

My son, I weep because you fly from my ap- 
proach . . . will it be ever thus? Oh, if I could 
but touch your white robe ! but you disappear, 
and leave me in my sorrow. 



102 A Mother Communing with her Son. 

EM MA N UEL. 

In vain do you try to follow me. You cannot 
penetrate the bright land of the elect. To us 
pure spirits is it alone reserved to dwell in 
that increated light which surpasses all that 
is fairest on earth. "It is a ray which daz- 
zleth not, a shining whiteness, a brilliancy 
which fatigues not the eye, a power through 
which the soul contemplates the divine beauty. 
Finally, a light, compared with which the sun 
himself is dark."(l) 

Some day, my mother, our prayer will be 
heard and you will rejoin me. In the mean- 
time, see me through the eyes of faith. You 
have seen your son. Let the remembrance of 
him give you courage. 

THE MOTHER. 

Ah, your memory is ever present to my eyes 
and my hands have found delight in tracing 
your picture. See it hung by my bedside and 
wet with my tears ! Before it I shall daily 

(1) St. Teresa. 



A Mother Communing with her Son. 103 

pray to the king of heaven and the queen of 
angels. And you also, happy child, I shall bless, 
and your name united to those of my patrons 
shall be borne to heaven in prayer. 

EMMANUEL. 

And I shall pray for you and for those dear 
friends whose embraces rested on my infant 
brow. Oh, my mother, I recall your last kiss 
on my cold lips when my soul was beseeching 
God to console you. 

And I felt that some day our prayers would 
be heard. Oh, on that day, far from leaving 
you, I shall fly to your breast with the swift- 
ness of lightning! Then there Avill be no 
more tears, for the day-star of eternal happi- 
ness will have risen for you ! My mother, 
Adieu. 



LETTERS 

O F 

CONDOLENCE AND OF CONSOLATION. 



Letters of Condolence and 
of Consolation. 

From Monsieur de M . . . . to his Friend. 

Paris, September 9, 1843. 

My dear Friend : 

It is not in the hope of consoling you 
that I write, but in order to express to 
you- our deep sympathy in your sorrow. I 
do not know that I ever felt more for another's 
grief than on the present occasion, for my 
intimacy with you and your wife enables me 
to understand your feelings. What words, 
then, dear friend, shall I use ? What can I 
say but that our God is good, that He loves 
you, and that later He will make you un- 
derstand the wisdom of this trial. Now is 
the hour of mourning; bow your head and 
weep, but do not rebel. Yesterday, the feast 
of the Nativity of our Lady, I first beard of 
your loss and immediately I repaired to the 



1 08 From Monsieur de M. . . to his friend* 

chapel of St. Thomas of Villanova and be- 
sought the comfortress of the afflicted not to 
abandon you in this hour. She who knew the 
loss of her Son can strengthen you ; you who 
always had such confidence in her, fly to her 
and place yourself in her care. Oh, if she 
will help your mind's eye to seethe heavenly 
glory of the dear departed, perhaps you will 
not wish to recall him into exile. 

Think of the hour when you will rejoin 
him. His is the better part. If a longer 
life had been given him he must have known 
its trials and, perchance, its sin. He has gone 
in his baptismal innocence ; you can think of 
him without the slightest disquietude. Sweet, 
pure spirit, in company with the bands of 
virgins, he follows the Lamb. You can, with 
the eyes of faith, look to him, invoke him, 
and unite your soul with his in divine love. 

Oh ! fasten your eyes upon him, dear friend ; 
follow whither his voice calls and you will 
cease to weep. 

The ways of the Lord are incomprehensible. 
Here below the strength of the father supports 
the child; but where innocence is strength, 
the child leads the parent and points out 



Fro77i Monsieur de M. . . to his friend. 1 09 

the way. Your pious soul always inclined 
towards the things on high. Now I can 
easily fancy that more than ever these as- 
pirations will increase, and if so, will you 
murmur that your own dear angel is forever 
with God? This is my best wish for you and 
this will be the prayer addressed for you to 
Jesus and Mary, who though separated here 
bodily were united in the bosom of God for- 
ever. 

Your devoted friend in J. C. 



From the Abbe .... to Madam 

September 1st, 1843. 

The trial is hard, is it not, my child ? I 
can see all your mother-love scorched by 
the fire of tribulation. I can see you dwell on 
each charm, and study each want of your 
little one. You look for him and hunger to 
press him to your bosom. I penetrate the 
depths of your grief. But your faith 
strengthens you; I see your eyes raised to 
heaven, the kingdom of the children, and 
there your soul sees the fruit of your womb 
in the arms of Jesus, who presses him to his 
heart and places him with Mary and the angels 
for eternity ! for eternity ! 

But what happiness is his, this dear child ! 
The eternal goodness hastened to take him 
from this world before it corrupted his in- 
nocence! Who amongst us but would envy 
his lot ? Dear daughter, you will rejoin him. 
Your resignation now will be an additional 



From the Abbe. . . to Madam. . . in 

merit for your soul ; it will add to your eternal 
treasures. Have courage, then, and place 
your confidence in Him who rewards a hundred- 
fold the sacrifices which His wisdom some- 
times exacts. 

I wish I might be near you to help you, if 
in my power, to bear this blow ; though absent 
in person, I am with you in spirit, and I shall 
not forget to present you during the holy 
sacrifice to Him who consoles all our sorrows. 

Pray for me also, dear daughter; your prayers 
will be acceptable to obtain the graces I need. 

Present my respects to ... . and tell them 
how sincerely I sympathize in their grief, and 
bear for them and you sentiments of respect 
in the hearts of J. , M. and J. 

Your affectionate father and servant. 



From M . . . . Canon at V. ... to the same 
V . . . December 25th, 1843. 

The trial which the Lord has sent you is 
great, very great, hut it must not blind us to His 
love and to the wisdom of His decrees. 

Why, dear lady, should we weep for one 
whose tears the Lord has dried away ? Why 
mourn for those whom faith assures us we will 
meet again in the bosom of God ? Yes, there 
is a common country to which we all daily 
draw nigh. Do not then let us mourn as those 
who have no hope. 

Friends separated by circumstances on earth 
look forward to being reunited in eternity; so 
it is with our dead — only gone for a little 
while ; and their absence should detach us from 
the things of earth, and make us sigh for the 
land where we will join them. 

Do not forget that He who strikes is the 
best of fathers and that we are all his children ; 
He wounds but to strengthen and takes away 



From Ml . . Canon at V. . to the same, i 1 3 

but to enrich. I implore Him to console you 
and to preserve your health, which, is so precious 
to your friends ; but let us pray, above all things, 
that we may live for Him by faith and hope, 
which cannot be taken from us. 

God tries us on earth in order to render us 
more worthy of Him in eternity. The deeper 
the grief which He sends for our correction 
the more sublime are the gifts which He re- 
serves for us. 

One thought presents itself to my mind — 
you offered your Emmanuel to God at his birth, 
perhaps before — would you now take him 
back ? Oh ! no, since God accepts him, do not 
wish to detain him in a life which is fraught 
with suffering, and might perhaps endanger 
his salvation. 

Once more, tender mother, you will see 
this new saint of heaven, not beneath the sun 
which shines on a world of woe, but in the 
rays of the pure light of the mansions of bliss 
eternal. 



From Father Louis Sellier, S. J., to Madam 
Amelie. . . . 

St. Acheul, April 22d. 
Madam : 

The peace of our Lord be with you. Your 
dear father came to see me here, where I have 
just arrived, to tell me of the sad loss of your 
first-born, the dear child for whose coming 
you looked for ten long years. Before my ar- 
rival at Amiens, however, I had heard of the loss 
from one of your school companions, Madam 
the Marchioness de Maries, nee Ostrel ; and 
deeply did I enter into your sorrow. I had re- 
joiced at the birth of the dear child, and am 
still more moved by the trial his death brings 
to your wifely and maternal heart ; I have fer- 
vently besought God to help you, and I have no 
doubt that he has poured drops of sweetness into 
your cup of bitterness. 



Father Sellier to Mme. Amelie. 1 1 5 

When our Father strikes, His grace is not 
wanting to heal the wound in the hearts of His 
beloved servants, amongst whom you, I am sure, 
may be numbered. He will say to your 
spirit : "I do not condemn your tears, they are 
natural ; but one day those tears will be turned 
into joy when you see your son in my glory, 
and in possession of joy which cannot be taken 
from him .... 

k ' Had it been in your power to give him a 
throne, what would it have been in com- 
parison to the one he now possesses ? It 
w T as my love which took him from this world 
before it corrupted his innocence." 

These are not vain speculations, they are the 
teachings of faith, of a faith as infallible as 
God Himself. 

I believe that even in the depth of your grief 
you will find cause for gratitude to God. He 
gave you an Isaac and then took him away in 
order to give you the opportunity of making a 
sacrifice as agreeable as that of Abraham. 

Can He not give you other children ? And 
who knows but this will be the reward of your 
resignation ? 

Have courage then, dear Amelie ; your trust 



1 1 6 Father Sellier to Mme. Amelie. 

will not be confounded. Have recourse tc 
Mary, the consolatrix of the afflicted. 
Believe in my deep regard in the Lord. 

(Life of Rev. Father Sellier) . 



LETTERS OF SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES. 

To a Mother. 

And now your little oue is amid angels and 
Holy Saints in Paradise. He remembers lov- 
ingly all that you did for him while he was 
with, you, especially your prayers for him, and 
in return he prays to God for you, and pours 
out many a petition that your life may become 
more and more in conformity to God's will, 
and that through, it you may attain to that life 
in which, he now rejoices forever. 

Be consoled, then, my daughter, and fix your 
heart on heaven, where your little saint is gone 
before. 

Persevere in striving to love the Saviour's 
will more and more. May He ever be your 
true consolation. 

To a Father. 

This world is not so charming that we need 
greatly pity those who lay down its burden 



1 1 8 Letttrs of Saint Francis de Sales. 

and for its own sake, it seems to me, your son 
is the gainer by quitting it almost before he 
has really entered it. 

We shrink at the word death as we use it, 
saying " your dear father, or your son is dead," 
but Christians should rather say, " your father 
or your son is gone to his home and yours, and 
in order to reach it he must needs pass through 
death, but he did not stop there." In our bet- 
ter judgment we cannot prize our home on this 
earth very much when we compare it with the 
heavenly home in which we hope to dwell eter- 
nally. 

We are journeying thither and we are more 
certain that we shall find there the dear ones 
gone before, than we can be of enjoying the 
presence of those yet among us., for they await 
us and we are going to them; whereas the 
others we leave behind, and they may linger 
yet. 

If you are still sorrowing over the departure 
of that gentle soul, cast your heart down before 
our crucified Lord, and ask His aid : He will 
assuredly give it, and will fill you with the de- 
sire and firm resolution to prepare for the time 
when you too must take the dreaded journey 



Letters of Saint Francis de Sales. 1 1 9 

and arrive joyfully there, where we believe our 
dear one to be already. 

To a Friend who had Lost his Brother. 

I hear that you continue to grieve sorely 
over this separation, which is indeed a most 
trying one to you. But this must not go on, 
for, either you weep for him or for yourself. 
Now if for him, why should you weep for him, 
why should you weep because he is in paradise, 
where tears are wiped away forever? And if 
you weep for yourself, is there not therein too 
much self-love? 

I speak thus plainly because it seems as 
though you cared more for yourself than for 
his eternal happiness. Would you keep your 
brother away from Him ' k in whom we live 
and move and have our being," so long as we 
accept His holy will and pleasure? 

Come and see us and let us "turn your 
sorrow into joy, " dwelling upon that blessed- 
ness which our dear brother now enjoys, never 
to lose. 

To a Lady who Feared Death. 

Dwell often upon the thought of the exceed- 



1 20 Letters of Saint Francis de Sales. 

ing love and pity with which God the Father, 
our dear Saviour, watch over those departing 
souls who in life have trusted in Him, striving 
to serve and love Him according to their vo- 
cation. 

u How great is Thy mercy, O Lord, upon 
them that fear Thee." 

Accustom yourself to think of those persons 
whom you love best and from whom it would 
cost you most to part, as the very persons with 
whom you are to dwell for all eternity, as for 
instance, your husband, your son, and your 
father. ' ' This dear little one will, by God's 
blessing, one day share that eternal happiness 
with me, rejoicing in my felicity, as I in his, 
never to part through all eternity ..." 

To a Sick Person on Peace of Mind in 
Affliction. 

"We must use every effort to acquire peace of 
mind in affliction, not because it will be the 
source of contentment, but because it is the re- 
sult of perfect resignation to the will of God. 

Since my return from my pastoral visitations 
I have had a slight fever and my physician has 



Letters of Saint Francis de Sales. 1 2 1 

ordered complete rest, which injunction I have 
strictly obeyed. You know it is the same 
remedy which I prescribe for spiritual disor- 
ders, always deprecating hurry and uneasiness. 
This corporal rest holds the place of the quiet 
confidence we should rejDOse in the will of God. 
Let us live in this valley of tears as long as 
and in the position which God ordains. 

The other day I was reading of those little 
birds which naturalists tell us live in the ocean, 
building their little round nests so ingeniously 
as to balance themselves on the waves and ex- 
clude the water, and protecting their young in 
the midst of storm and tempest. How I wish 
that you would take them for a model, build- 
ing within your heart an abode where the winds 
and temptations of life could not enter to harm 
your soul. Let us admire the good God who 
cares even for the little bird, and repose con- 
fidently in the hands of so tender a Father, 
praying Him to so secure the nests of our 
hearts that they will safely hold His pure love. 
Oh ! how I love the birds that, surrounded by 
the waves, see only the heavens ! And above 
all is the thought sweet to me that their anchor- 
age is from on high rather than from earth. 



122 Letters of Saint Francis de Sales. 

May the good Jesus grant us to live by the 
spirit when surrounded by waves of affliction, 
and that in the storms of life our anchor of 
safety may be fastened in Paradise ! 



LETTERS FROM FENELON. 
To a Lady in Affliction. 

Madam : 

It is a melancholy pleasure to assure you 
that I sympathize in your grief, but here ends 
human help ; here we must have recourse to 
God, and Him I implore on your behalf, not 
that He may take away your sorrow, but that 
He may help you in it, and preserve you from 
being overcome by it. 

Grief is the sovereign remedy for the worst 
evils of the soul. It is the ground in which 
grows the grand fruit of Christianity — the 
crucifixion of self, without which the perfect 
love of God cannot flourish. We must die to 
ourselves in order to live to God ; and the 
wound which turns all to bitterness most 
effectually opens the way. When the heart 
mourns for that which is d earest, and sweet- 
est, and most innocent, we distrust ourselves 
and turn to God. 



124 Letters from Fenelon. * 

Behold, dear madam, how grief can become 
the great remedy for the numberless ills with 
which sin weighs us down, and let it bring 
Christian strength. God separates by death a 
couple tenderly united and thus sends each a 
great blessing; to one he gives eternal hap- 
piness, to the other a source of merit. This is 
what He has done towards you. May His 
holy spirit enlighten you to see His mercy ! 
This shall be my constant prayer, and, as I 
have great confidence in the prayer of those 
in affliction, I beg you to pray for me. 

To a Father on the Death of his Son, 

Your grief and the loss you have sustained 
are ever present to me; but God calls His 
own ; and w T ho dares to question His right ? 
He owes us nothing, and His supreme pleasure 
is sufficient reason for His acts. The sentence 
sit per ratione voluntas—" My pleasure is my 
reason" — which would be but an absurd as- 
sumption on the lips of man, is the expression 
of perfect justice in God. 

In the deepest wounds dealt by His hand 
we often see the greatest evidence of His 
mercy. By being called away in the midst of 



Letters from Fenelon. 125 

a good action, the weak man is saved from 
the trial which might have been too strong for 
his resistance. ' ' For his soul pleased God : 
therefore He hastened to bring him out of the 
midst of iniquities." (1) Oh, what revelations 
will be made to us in the other world, and 
what can tides of gratitude we shall sing for 
events over which we had wept here below ! 

The darkness of this world prevents us 
from seeing clearly either good or bad. If 
God listened to our wishes we should all be 
lost, but He saves many by severing the ties 
of earth. The same mercy which has saved our 
loved ones by taking them out of temptation, 
prepares us for the hour of death. What great- 
er grace can we ask ? Do we complain because 
God takes our dear ones from the danger of 
sinning ? Does he wrong us when he shortens 
the hour of trial and scandal, which threatens 
to overpower even the elect ? We seem to 
desire but that which flatters our self-love in- 
to forgetting that we are in exile. God takes 
from our lips the poisoned cup, and we weep 
like the child whose mother snatches from his 
hand the murderous weapon ! 
(1) Wisdom, iv. 4. 



126 Letters from Fenelon. 

To a Friend. 

I hear of the afflictions which have been 
sent to you, and I make them rny own. What 
wounded you has always wounded me for 
your sake, but now personal experience has 
made me particularly alive to the sufferings of 
others. Happy those who are afflicted, yes ! 
even in this hour of sorrow, I repeat, happy 
those who suffer with a gentle, humble heart ! 

Whatever is decreed by the will of God 
is never too severe : were we the judges of our 
own trials we would never die to self-love. 
He who knows us better than we know our- 
selves, and who loves us more than we love 
ourselves, will not allow us to be tempted be- 
yond our strength. Love of God sweetens 
everv trial and is the measure of our resist 
nation. 

God wishes to possess man and it was by 
the cross He gained him. I have ever kept 
silence on the subject of my lost ones, and 
now I break it for your sake ; for the com- 
munion of common sorrows helps the heart 
to bear up in affliction. 



EXTRACTS FROM SOME OF FENELON'S 
LETTERS. 

On the Necessity of Trusting in God. 

God wishes to console you in the midst of 
your affliction. The wound is severe but the 
hand of the divine consoler is all-powerful. It 
is only the senses and the imagination which 
have lost their idol. Those whom.-wfe. can no 
longer see are nearer than ever to us in' a holy 
communion of soul. They see us and obtain 
help for us, they know our needs and ask the 
remedy. As for me who have been deprived 

of I speak to him from the fulness of my 

heart. I have wept bitter tears for him, but, 
knowing that I shall again find him with God, 
I cannot think him lost. Oh, what a reality 
there is in the communion of the children of 
God ! 

We shall soon reach those who have gone before ; 
we follow them with rapid strides — but a little 
while and we shall weep no more. It will be 
for us to die and for them to live. We say 



128 On the Necessity of Trusting in God. 

that this is our belief, but how weak our 
faith — if it were strong we should have the 
sentiments inculcated by Jesus Christ before 
His ascension. " If you loved me you would 
indeed be glad because I goto the Father/' (1) 

Our tears for the dead are often selfish — 
We may perhaps mourn over the death of the 
worldling, but not for the young or for those 
who have been faithful to God, and who are 
gone where they can obtain the choicest bless- 
ings for those they have left. Let your wound 
be healed by the hand that struck the blow ! 

I beseech God daily to console you. There 
is a consolation of oblivion which our hearts 
covet not, but there is a consolation which 
comes from God, and soothes the afflicted 
heart, making it feel that in Him it gains more 
than it has lost. It wipes away our tears by 
leading us in the path to those who have gone. 
I trust that God will lessen your grief — He 
alone can accomplish this. 

Let us unite ourselves to him whom we have 
lost — he prays for us. May the courage which 
comes of faith strengthen you ! It is * not the 
haughty courage of pride — it shows us our 

(1) Johuxiv. 28. 



On the Necessity of Trusting in God. 129 

own nothingness and supplies our weakness. 
It makes us rejoice in our poverty and depend 
solely on God ! Then comes calm silence, in- 
terior recollection, and sweet dependence ; 
and in perfect union with God we find again 
all that we mourned as lost. 



On Entire Abandonment to God in Suffering. 

I sympathize sincerely in your trial, but in 
this short life we must bear the cross of Christ. 
In a little while the hour of suffering will be 
past : let us not lose the precious time of merit. 
Let us suffer peacefully and humbly. Self- 
love exaggerates our trials. A cross borne sim- 
ply becomes but half a cross. What we bear 
through love makes us happy because it makes 
us pleasing and like unto the beloved. 

I grieve for your grief and wish that I could 

do more We must imitate the faith of 

Abraham and go without asking whither. He 
who proposes the will of God for his destina- 
tion never loses his path, for it is to be found 
in all things decreed by an overruling Provi- 
dence ! 

True abandonment to God, having no selfish 



130 0?i Entire Abandonme?it to 

end or object, never leads astray. I hope that 
He who feeds the fowls of the air will provide 
for you. Happy he who, like Jesus, has not a 
place to rest his head upon. Be faithful to 
God and He will be faithful to His promises ! 

Xo one can enter into your grief more than I 
do, but we must bear the cross if we would be 
like unto Jesus. Crosses are our daily bread 
and God measures them according to our ne- 
cessities, which He knows better than we do 
ourselves. Let us abandon ourselves into His 
hands. Be the child of Providence. Be not 
solicitous for the future. The manna of old 
spoiled when kept over. Do not cry: What 
shall we have to-morrow? "For the morrow 
shall be solicitous for itself. " (1) 

Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. 
God each day will give what is required. ' ' They 
that seek the Lord shall not be deprived 
of any good." (2) Providence will, if neces- 
sary, perform miracles for us ; but we must 
learn to abandon ourselves into the Divine 
hands ; by a doubting anxiety we negative the 
heavenly care. 

God shows His love for you by sending trials 

(i) Matt, vi- 34. (2) Ps- xxxiii- 11. 



God in Suffering. I 2 1 

and humiliations : the true weapons which root 
out the insidious enemy self-love, whose se- 
cret dens are known to Him who thus deals a 
deadly blow. 

Had we the resolution to confide ourselves 
entirely to God, and to follow unswervingly the 
paths He marks out, we would find the attain- 
ment of perfection an easy matter; but because 
of our little faith we prolong the journey and 
stumble on the way. Abandon yourself to 
God and He will never desert you. 

I trust, sir, that this trial and isolation 
from creatures will bring you the joy which is 
to be found in God alone. In times of peace 
and prosperity it is easy to imagine that we 
confide in God; but when the cup of bitterness 
is presented to the lips, then human nature 
trembles. We are overwhelmed by a deadly sad- 
ness, and, with the Saviour in the Garden of 
Olives, we cry out: " If it be possible, let this 
chalice pass." (1) Oh ! happiness if we, with 
the same Divine Model, add, " Not my will, 
but Thine be done." 

We must love the hand that strikes— that 
crushes us. Our fall is noble if it glorifies 

(1) Matt. xxvi. 39. 



132 On Entire Abandonment to 

Him by whom and for whom we were created . 
Oh, what a grand destiny for our poverty! 
Perish, then, all self-love ! Blessed the holocaust 
burned for the Eternal! 

Self-love brings with it trouble and uneasi- 
ness : divine love — peace and rest. Let us suffer 
and lose and sacrifice all — it may be dreadful 
to nature, but God will bless it and save us in 
temptation. 

My God ! How beautiful if we could have 
our purgatory here below! Human nature 
shrinks from it in this world or in the next. 
God sometimes sends it to us in this, but, by 
our assistance, we merit it in the next. Oh, 
that we could learn to be like the holy souls, 
purified by the merciful fire of sufferings ! 

You are more dear than ever to me when in 
trouble — the season of merit. The more you are 
deprived of earth's consolation the more pre- 
cious you are to God. When suffering the 
cross we cry with Jesus, ' ' My God, my God : 
why hast Thou abandoned me?" It is the 
parting cry of human nature when the spirit 
is being swallowed up in the perfection of 
love. 

My daughter, bear your infirmities of mind 



God in Suffering. 133 

and body. The great Apostle says: "For 
which cause I please myself in my infirmities, 
in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, 
in distresses for Christ. For when I am weak, 
then am I powerful." (1) We are strong in 
God in proportion as we are weak in our- 
selves. 

Letter from Father de Ravignan. 

As a fit accompaniment to these letters of St. 
Francis de Sales and of Fenelon we will add 
one written by the Rev. Father de Ravignan 
" to console in the deepest affliction." It did 
not treat of the loss of an innocent little one, 
whose salvation was sure, but of one of those 
dreadful trials to a Christian mother when her 
tears are rendered more bitter by the anxiety 
which must accompany a sudden death. At 
the time of the tragic death of the Duke of 
Orleans, 13th of July, 1842, Father de Ravignan 
was preaching at the church of St. Roch in 
Paris, and a maid of honor to the queen Marie — 
Amelie — wrote to him the following words : 
' ' You who have the words of truth, say, have 

(1) II. Cor. xii. 10. 



134 Letter from Father de Ravignan. 

we reason to fear, or can we hope all from the 
mercy of God ? If you have a comforting word, 
do not refuse it to a broken heart." The holy 
religious did not long delay the following an- 
swer : 

' ' Madame la Marquise : 

' l The grief of a good mother is among the 
most sacred of sights ; let us trust that it is 
acceptable in the sight of God. 

' ' True, we cannot penetrate the secrets of 
Omnipotence ; nor can we know what passes 
in the soul at the moment of death ; but should 
we not, as Christians, having hope as well as 
faith and charity, trust to the infinite mercy 
of a Saviour ? As long as there is life there is 
no limit to grace, therefore we should not 
cease to offer humble and persevering prayer. 
The saints and fathers of the Church go very 
far in expressing their confidence in the effi- 
cacy of the prayer of soul for soul. One day 
we shall see its blessed fruition." 

" I love to picture God as a tender, compas- 
sionate mother ; and surely what such a mother 
would do cannot exceed His powerful mercy 
at the awful hour of death. I can trust all to 
Him." — (Life of Father de Ravignan.) 



LETTERS FROM LACORDAIRE. 
To a Father on the Death of his Son. 

Sir: 

Many times since the trial which has come 
to you and to us I have intended writing to 
you ; but I felt my inability to console so deep 
a sorrow ; and I shrank from re-opening so 
recent a wound. 

However, I shall no longer defer expressing 
to you my sense of your loss of such a son. and 
of our own of such a pupil. I may sincerely 
say that I never have felt a greater loss, and 
each time that I recollect the dear boy on his 
death-bed I grieve anew. He was the first of 
my pupils whom I had lost, and I never knew 
how strong are the ties which bind me to 
them. He depended on me for spiritual di- 
rection and I can say that you nurtured a 
pure spirit in him. During his trying sickness 
his virtue attained wonderful heights and he 
was most visibly assisted by God's grace. This 



136 Letters from Lacordaire. 

must be for you not only a source of great con- 
solation, but good grounds for sure hope, for 
the more we know of the dangers of the 
world the more we fear them for our young men. 
It is surely a grace to die young ; nature may 
dispute the fact, but faith persuades us of it, 
and your's is not the heart to be deaf to its 
teaching ; this makes me hope to see you con- 
soled and blessed in your second son for what 
you have lost in your eldest. 

To a Mother on the Death of a Christian 
Young Man. 

Soreze, Dec. 28th, 1858. 
Madam : 

Mr. H has told me of the sad mis- 
fortune which has occurred to you. He 
speaks of the great affection and high hopes 
which he entertained for your son. 

Death has robbed you of a son just reaching 
the most promising age, when you had reason 
to hope that his deep piety and brilliant talents 
would be the joy and pride of your life. This 
is a severe blow, and one which might prove 
to those not having your knowledge of God 



Letters from Lacordaire. 1 3 7 

hard to bear resignedly: but God, having 
given up His own Son to death, gives strength 
to the mother's heart, and aids her by the 
light of faith to discover the ways of His 
love. 

On the loss of a child whose future seems 
perilous, we console ourselves with the thought 
that perhaps God has sent death to save him 
from falling ; when the pure and good are 
taken, may we not fancy them holocausts 
balancing the scales of God's justice towards 
other souls ? 

Your son desired to labor in the service of 
Mother Church, and he has left evidence in his 
writings of his great zeal for Christian truth. 
Would that labor have been more acceptable 
than the purity of soul he has offered to his 
Maker ? 

Nothing, madam, can be higher than to die 
for God. It was in martyrdom and sacrifice 
the Church was born and still lives. Your 
grief will unite itself with the sacrifice which 
your son made ; he has presented your tears 
to Jesus Christ : they have found favor in 
heaven and return in benediction to earth. 
Dear madam, in pious thought mount 



138 Letters from Lacordaire. 

to Calvary with Mary, in order that you may 
be present with her at the resurrection. Pray 
excuse these lines, although Christians should 
not be strangers to each other. I would scarcely 
have presumed to write had not friendship 
guided my hand. Let the motive which 
prompted me be my excuse and allow me, 
madam, to remain, 

Yours respectfully. 



CONSOLING FRAGMENTS. 

Harmony of Nature. 

Let not man bewail the shortness of life ; the 
voice of eternal harmony is heard only when 
that of time is silenced. To the body is given 
a few years of misery and bitterness ; to the 
soul an eternity of joy and blessedness. Man 
is not merely a being condemned to till the 
earth, but. a spirit with a sublime destiny; 
from the weary death-bed he sees his God 
waiting to receive him ; and the Creator of all 
thought fathoms each impulse of His creature. 

Man leaves a world of sorrow to enter one 
of eternal joy ; and for the company of the 
eternally blessed where death never enters. 

Oh, what happiness to leave a land of grief 
in order to enter the haven where grief en- 
tereth not ! To cast off the carnal and put on 
the angelic — the divine ! To cast aside the 
chains of slavery and assume the inheritance ! 
To defy the victory of death and burst into 
everlasting ljght ! 



I4-0 Consoling Fragments. 

He had been exiled to a land o'ercast by the 
funereal Cyprus and bedewed by constant 
weeping — a land where all things change and 
die ; where they love but to suffer, and 
meet but to part ; and now he has arrived 
where change is unknown. His soul is filled 
with a pure love which is eternal, and from 
the height of heaven he casts a pitying 
glance on the home of his exile. — (Bernard de 
St. Pierre.) 

* 
Let us Think on Heaven. 

1st of November. 

The air is filled with the sounds of bells ; let 
us rejoice, oh, Christian ; to-day the Mother 
Church draws aside the veils of Paradise and 
displays to our vision the saints of all ages, all 
countries, all conditions. What an innumerable 
throng surrounds the Lamb ! What is the les- 
son of u All Saints ?" Lend your ear to its 
teaching. 

Many saints are known to history and are 
specially honored, but how many more are 
hidden from the world's knowledge — God 
wills His servants' triumph; hence to-day's 



Consoling Fragments. 1 4 1 

feast. i ' After this I saw a great multitude 
which no man could number, of all nations, 
and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, stand- 
ing before the throne and in sight of the Lamb, 
clothed with white robes, and palms in their 
hands." (1) 

To us Mother Church says : Behold these 
crowns — they have been won by your brothers, 
your companions in the same spheres which 
you are treading — the reward of trials borne, 
of difficulties surmounted. Why can you not 
do what your peers have done ? Companions 
on earth, will you not follow them to heaven ? 

I once knew a holy religious, whose parting 
words used to be, "Courage, we journey to 
paradise." Such is the admonition of the 
Church to us on this feast. " Courage," she 
says, ' ' look to heaven, see your crown which 
awaits you, a few days more and you can reach 
it." 

" Look to heaven I" Is it then necessary 
that a special feast should be set apart in order 
to send us this message ? Would it not be 
natural that the thought should recur 

(l) Apoc. viL 9. 



142 Consoling Fragments, 

to us daily ? Is there sadness in it ? When you 
find a poor exile shortening the days of his 
banishment by singing the songs of his father- 
land and drawing pictures of his fireside, will 
you say to him, ' 'My friend, these airs are sad ; 
let us sing the songs of the stranger ?" He 
would turn from you and the tears which he 
would shed would be the dews of tenderness 
and of homesickness. The ditty of childhood 
has often unnerved the brave hand of the war- 
rior, and made him as tender as a mother's em- 
brace. 

Think of heaven. In the words of St. Ber- 
nard, ' ' If the labor is hard the reward is great. " 
Man occupied with the things of earth is un- 
willing to look up, but willingly condemns 
himself to be buried in the darkness of this 
world without the sunny rays of a comforting 
hope, a hope so beautiful that man's indifference 
to it is incomprehensible. What is the reward ? 
The perfection of being — the being filled with 
the knowledge of God — the eternal companion- 
ship of Mary and of the saints and angels ! 
How can our hearts, naturally so avaricious, be 
indifferent to such a prize ? 

Think of heaven. It is the bow of promise 



Consoling Fragments. 143 

after the storm, the oasis in the desert — the 
honeycomb for the weary traveller. Heaven ! 
Do you understand what it is ? — The kingdom 
of God — the storehouse of His treasures ! — 
u The heavens shew forth the glory of God, 
and the firmament declareth the work of 
His hands." (1) Earth is beautified by the 
works of His hands and yet earth is but the 
land of exile. Heaven is the land of promise. 

Let us think of heaven and what awaits us 
there. We cannot conceive it, but we know 
that we possess three craving faculties, knowl- 
edge, love, and action, and that there alone 
this infinity shall be satisfied. If God was 
pleased to deck the garden of Eden with such 
beauty; if he surrounds sinful man here below 
with so much happiness, what has He not pre- 
pared in the heavenly Jerusalem — in that abode 
of holiness which has the sky for its footstool 
and contains the Divinity ? 

In heaven alone we shall understand the 
decrees of Providence. There the perfect 
knowledge of His laws will explain to us the 
many events of life which taxed our faith and 

(1) Ps. xviii. 



144 Consoling Fragments. 

found no answer in philosophy. We shall 
scan the pages of destiny ; we shall read the 
history of the little planet which cradled our 
short lives. And its evolutions and revolutions, 
past and future, will cease to puzzle us. Above 
all, we shall marvel at the great miracle of re- 
demption, that miracle too profound for patri- 
arch or prophet. We shall cease to look for 
the cause of physical and spiritual evils and 
see clearly that ' ' all which He doeth is well 
done." Now we only see indistinctly the 
effects, then we shall understand cause and 
effect — the consequence in the principle. In 
a word, our knowledge of the work shall teach 
us how to know the Creator ; and at the source 
of perfection we shall understand that which 
is perfect. Words fail me, I do but lisp, I 
should command the language of an angel. (1) 

In the "Confessions of St. Augustine, 1 ' there 
is described a touching scene which we shall 
repeat in the words of the great son of Monica : 

' ' A few days before her death at Ostia where 
we were resting from the fatigues of a 
long journey, it happened that we were alone, 

(1) Ch. Bossuet. 



Consoling Fragments. 145 

she and I, looking out on the garden and 
communing sweetly without any thought of 
the trials we had passed. We sought to gain 
light on that eternity which would be the 
patrimony of the elect. We knew that no 
eye had seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered 
into the heart of man to conceive what God 
had prepared, but yet we longed to slake the 
thirst of our hearts in the lisrht which we 
possessed and to raise our thoughts to so high 
a subject. 

1 ' While we spoke of that life which is the 
seat of eternal wisdom, and towards whose 
shores our souls longed, our hearts were rilled 
with transports of joy and the contemplation 
made us hunger for its possession. 

' ' Thou knowest, my God ! that as we thus 
spoke together, and conceived a great con- 
tempt for things of earth, she said to me : 'As 
for me, my son, I see nothing in life to attach 
me to it ; what more have I to do or to desire ? 
The only thing for which I longed was to see 
you in the Church. My wish has been more 
than granted, for I see you devoting all your 
jDowers to God and sacrificing everything for 
Him. What more do I want V " 



146 Consoling Fragments. 

A few days after this conversation, God 
heard the sighs of the pious mother of Augus- 
tine and she beheld the eternal Wisdom, face 
to face. If we cannot, with Monica, say, 
"What more have I to desire," at least let us, 
like her, sometimes meditate on the treasures 
above. Let us think on heaven in order to 
place a proper estimate on the things of earth, 
and in order to merit the rewards prepared 
for us. 

We Meet Again in Heaven. 
ProBterit figura mundi. 

Here below everything changes and dies ; in 
the words of Holy Writ, the world is but a tent 
soon to be struck. Sooner or later everything 
passeth away ; but that which is animated by 
the divine breath liveth again. Our souls cast 
aside the chrysalis of clay in order to take the 
wings of eternity. Man in the flesh lives but 
half his life ; we might say that he commences 
to live when his body dies, were it not that 
that body is to rise again and be the soul's glor- 
ified companion forever. 

In the places made vacant by lost ones and 



Consoling Fragments. 147 

over the ruins of blasted hopes, the Christian 
ever sees floating the angel of hope waving the 
sweetly inscribed motto, i ' We meet again in 
heaven." 

We are allowed to believe and hope that we 
shall recognize our friends in heaven, and that 
the sight of their happiness will increase our 
own. Indeed nature shrinks from doubting 
this, and it is a great consolation to find faith 
in accordance with so sweet an instinct. Yes, 
in heaven, if we are so happy as to reach it, 
we shall know our own, and we shall feel a 
still tenderer and purer love for those who con- 
tributed most to our happiness here. Why 
not ? Our faculties will not be dulled in the 
future life. On the contrary, they will be 
perfected. Possessing, as fully as it is pos- 
sible to a creature, knowledge and the power 
of loving, the soul will not be deprived of 
feelings that were legitimate; on the con- 
trary, they will be intensified ; it will love in 
God and for God with perfect charity all those 
whom it loved on earth, and that love will be 
purer and deeper and more sublime. There, 
where love and gratitude will exist in perfec- 
tion, we shall reciprocate the feelings of those 



148 Consoling Fragments. 

whom we love and who love us here below, 
with a warmth in comparison with which the 
ardor of life is but as a shadow. 

The devoted student, Ozanam, on the point 
of an early death, addressed his young wife 
thus: "To my beloved Amelia, who has been 
the joy and charm of my life, I bid a farewell 
as short as are all things earthly. I thank her, 
I bless her, and I wait for her. In heaven only 
can I return her the love which I owe her." 

These are the words of a Christian's heart. 
Above, not here below, does it gain its full 
powers of loving, first its God, then those who 
were dear in life. 

It seems a superfluous task to insist on this 
point ; all the doctors and saints have looked 
on this earth as an exile and on heaven as the 
true country of eternal reunions. Let us quote 
St. Francis de Sales writing to a lady who 
had an excessive fear of death : ' ' Think on 
meeting in heaven those whom you love most 
on earth, and from whom it will pain you most 
to part ; for example, your husband, your son. 
your father. Say, oh, the happiness of being unit- 
ed, never to be again separated from those dear 
ones!" 



Consoling Fragments. 149 

I know of a mother, tender as mothers only 
are tender, who returned one day from a sermon 
on heaven, in which she understood or misunder- 
stood the preacher to say that there we would 
be so absorbed in the perfections of God as 
to be indifferent to all other feelings. 

The poor mother, who had just lost a belov- 
ed daughter, was so troubled in spirit that she 
refused to see in such a heaven the realization 
of perfect happiness. 

* 

Follow the Paths of Pure Love with Joy, 
Gratitude, and Wonder. 

The path of pure love leads to God alone, 
and away from creatures ; hence the necessity 
of trials, for if we now find it so difficult to de- 
tach our hearts from earth, what would it be if 
a merciful God had not mixed a salutary bitter 
in the cup of life? 

Alas, says the great St. Augustine, whatwould 
become of us if all things were sweet ? It is the 
mercy of God that sends crosses and He sends 
them in proportion with His love. The saints 
send cause for fear in honors and for joy in 
suffering, not in the pain itself, but in its fruits. 



15c Consoling Fragments. 

Oh, who would not exchange creatures and 
their esteem for God and His love ! 

We must walk in the pathway of pure love 
with joy, because it gives glory to God and good 
to ourselves. Every Christian must be con- 
vinced of this truth, since Holy Scripture so 
often declares it. Then, if trials bring happi- 
ness, should they not be met with joy, not to 
say patience ? We should thank the providence 
of God for afflictions, for the Holy Book tells 
us they are His gifts to His servants. The 
blindness of mortals on this subject has often 
surprised me when I have seen crowds flock 
to certain shrines in order to return thanks to 
God, some for health restored, some for a great 
gain, others for having been delivered from 
danger, but none for the blessing of trials. 

Let us return thanks to God, the Dispenser of 
all good things, for temporal favors, but let us 
not forget His most precious gifts, the grace of 
trials and sufferings. 

A servant of God once told me of a pious 
soul who asked Him to offer a Mass of thanks- 
giving because she had lost a lawsuit. Oh, my 
God ! How just and reasonable it is to return 
Thee thanks under all circumstances ! — To sing 



Consoling Fragments. 151 

a Te Deum, to make pilgrimages and novenas 
when sick or suffering! On the bed of pain, 
in interior trouble . . . . i-n temporal losses, on 
the death of a friend or the changes of friend- 
ship .... the soul should rejoice, no matter 
how nature repines. 

St. Elizabeth gives us a bright example . At 
the age of twenty she lost her young husband, 
was banished with her little children from her 
palace, hooted at by the very poor whom she 
had aided, and obliged to take refuge amongst 
the swine, not knowing whither to go. She 
assembled the monks of St. Francis and begged 
them to chant a Te Deum in thanks ! Human 
reason fails to see why, but the soul of Elizabeth 
saw cause of thanksgiving for the things cal- 
culated to bring her through a loving Provi- 
dence to glory which would not pass away. 

I say that we should walk in the pathway of 
pure love with joy and gratitude, but also with 
wonder. Because if it be the way of the saints, 
should we not marvel that we sinners are al- 
lowed to tread it? 

The blessed Angela of Foligni used to say 
that riches and honors were the crumbs which 
fell from the hands of God, but that crosses 



152 Consoling Fragments. 

were the precious viands of His table which 
He served to His best beloved. The afflicted, 
she said, dined at the table of the sweet Jesus 
and partook of His nourishment. Consistently 
with this sentiment, she travelled forty miles 
in order to take upon herself the cross of holy 
poverty. The seraphic St. Francis did the same 
thing, going to the Apostles' tomb at Eome 
in order to ask the same grace. 

Happy then those who suffer, happier those 
who suffer more, and happiest those who suffer 
most ! The most blessed sight is one who suf- 
fers patiently in body and in mind, until, so to 
speak, he is a living crucifixion ! 



Blessed are they that Mourn. (1) 

Whether it be for their trials or for their sins, 
they are blessed and they shall be comforted 
in that world, where * ' God shall wipe away 
all tears." (2) 

Abraham said to the rich man, " Son, re- 
member that thou didst receive good things in 
thy lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things : 

(1) Matt. v. 5. (2) Apoc. xxi. 4. 



Consoling Fragments. 153 

but now he is comforted, and thou art torment- 
ed." (1) 

He is happy because he suffered in patience ; 
his trials were severe, and he had not consola- 
tion in this world, where the rich man did not 
even deign to look upon him ; but, having 
suffered in patience, he is now comforted in 
God's kingdom, where there is no sorrow. 

' ' I say to you that you shall lament and 
weep, but the world shall rejoice." (2) Such 
is the promise of the Lord to His disciples. Joy 
and sorrow succeed each other ; those who 
rejoice shall be afflicted and those who mourn 
shall be comforted. " Blessed are they that 
mourn, for they shall be comforted." Above 
and beyond all mourners, those who weep for 
their sins shall be comforted. All other evils 
are augmented by weeping over them ; sin 
alone is cured by it. Let us weep, sinners as 
we are : let our eyes be copious fountains 
whose streams shall furrow our cheeks. Pious 
tears obtain for us forgiveness of our sins. Oh, 
happy, a thousand times happy, are those who 
mourn their sins, for they shall be comforted. 

What shall we say of those whose tears pro- 

(1) Luke xvi. 25. (2) John xvi. 20. 



154 Consoling Fragments. 

ceed from devotion ? — especially blessed are 
they. Their hearts are melted within them 
and seem to be visible through their tears. 
Who shall explain the cause of such tears ? 
Sometimes it is the goodness of a beloved father 
— the favor of one in power — the voice of a be- 
loved husband, the loneliness at his departure. 
There are tears which, those who shed them 
can scarce explain. — (Bossuet.) 

A Prayer to Unite our Sufferings to those of 
Jesus Christ. 

My God ! allow me to join my voice to the 
prayer which Jesus Christ in His agony offered 
for all His creatures. Oh, God, Thou didst de- 
liver Him up to such a bitter sadness and such 
a faintness of soul that He prayed Thee to let the 
chalice pass by. " If it be possible, let this cup 
pass, but not My will but Thine be done." 

I unite my cup of sorrow to that which Thy 
divine Son drank to the dregs. I receive it from 
Thy hands in the firm belief that it is a mercy 
from Thee and destined to make me like unto 
Jesus, my Saviour. Lord, thou hast promised 
not to try us beyond our strength ; I confide 



Consoling Fragments. 155 

in Thy word and trust to Thee for strength, 

V O 7 

and for forgiveness of my weakness. 

Jesus, my Saviour ! Name of grace and 
mercy, I unite myself to your prayer in the 
garden, to your bloody sweat, to your sadness 
and f aintness, to the bitter feeling of abandon- 
ment which wrung your soul in combat with 
the tempter, to your victory over the evil 
spirits, to your humiliations, for which now 
every knee in heaven, on the earth and under 
the earth, bow in adoration. In one word, I 
unite myself to your cross and to all that you 
decree for man. Have pity on me and on all 
creatures. Convert me, console me, and make 
me worthy to be Thy servant. — (Bossuet.) 



Lines on the Death of a Little Girl. 

A beauteous soul in softened radiance veiled 
Was newly borne to the sweet Mother's 
throne : 
Angels with songs of joy her coming hailed, 
While the Queen-mother fondly claimed her 
own. 
The lustrous atmosphere, the loving tone, 
The .sound of melody from Seraph lyre ; 
The sweet embrace, as bending from her throne 
The Mother spake the words which bliss in- 
spire : — 
The words of welcome warm, that thrill the 
soul 
With joys unknown on earth, with ecstasy — 
These filled that soul with bliss beyond control 
And yet — the soul emits a holy sigh. 

The Virgin Mother smiled: " Thy thought I 
know, 
Yet give it utterance, my loving one ! 
In heaven no holy wish need'st thou forego — 



Lines on the Death of a Little Girl. 1 5 7 

If humbly laid before th' Eternal Throne 
Of Sovereign Love, which purifies from dross, 

And ever grants us more than we desire, 
Sustained by power, it guarantees from loss, 

Nay, does the sweet petitioner inspire." 
u Then, Glorious Mother! " speaks th' enrap- 
tured child, 
" Full well thou knowest that the high com- 
mand — 
Behest of Him, thy Son, my Saviour mild. 
That I should come and join thy glorious 
band, 

" Fell not on ears ingrate : my love to thee 

Inspired by Him, amounts to ecstasy : 
To see thee : feel but once thy close embrace 

Suffices all earth's pleasures to efface : — 
Yet, dearest mother, there is love on earth, 

Though but faint reflex of the love of heaven, 
There — love me still — the heart that gave me 
birth, 

And the fond father, from whose side I'm 
riven. 
What will they do without the darling pet 

They cherished fondly ? Sadly fall their tears ; 
They mourn me sorrowing. Can I them forget? 

Love is the boon that Heaven itself endears ! " 



158 Lines on the Death of a Little Girl. 

The smiling Queen of Mothers thus rejnied : 
"My darling child, thou'ltlove them more 
and more, 
Nay, oft in dreams, and oft at even-tide, 
When the world's fractious cares of day are 
o'er, 
Thoirlt softly whisper : l List, mamma, I'm 
here ! 
Papa ! oh, list ! from heaven I speak to ye : 
Oh, let my loving voice your sorrows cheer, 

E'en though I greet you thus invisibly. 
I'm here ! to tell of joys too great to speak: 

To be a beacon set for you on high : 
To show how transient are earth's joys : how 
weak ! 
How — when enjoyed — they tarnish purity. 
Then love her still, your Ursula in Heaven : 
Still, she is with you, though you see her 
not: — 
Removed ere yet one thought to sin was given, 
Rejoice, while weeping: — her's a glorious 
lot.—' " 

M. A. Since. 












r 



/ 



l#& 






Js*1 W^ 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



l 



029 789 487 



